Would you take a look at all those shiny medal stickers on the label of this Robert Stein Dry Riesling 2019?
Reminds of some of the Tyrrell’s Vat 1 releases (like the 2005) where half the bottle is covered up by show medals stuck on the label. Not everyone is a fan of that sort of broadcasting, but I like it. It says ‘wine judges love me and you should too’.
You can see why this 2019 has 2 trophies, 8 gold medals as a starting point – it’s excellent. There’s a humming intensity here, a real Australian interpretation of great Riesling, the pithy lemon lime citrus a wave of intensity that is undeniable. It’s very dry, very refreshing, and long. That fruit is ripe, yet there is a mass of rumbling acidity, without harshness. Long. Acid-etched. Powerful. It feels more like Eden Valley shaped than anything out of NSW, let alone Mudgee, the lines more deeply etched than nearly anything. Commanding. Precise. Exceptional.
Best drinking: I like this right now. Sure, it will age, but this is my time to drink it – on a hot summer night in my shorts, watching the cricket. Straya! 18.7/20, 95/100. 12%, $35. Would I buy it? In an instant.
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Comment
From this review (and the older one on their 2016 rieslings in he link above) Robert Stein is something I hope will make it out to Canada. The first time I saw a bottle festooned with medals like this was a 1986 Mount Pleasant semillon that I saw in a bottle shop in Perth. It was to be my first semillon.