A very very light pale straw colour in the glass, very clear and pristine looking.
A brightly fragrant citrus bouquet greets your olfactory senses. It produces a slight tingling thrill of measured excitement as the citrus morphs a little into pears and tropicals followed by noticeable aromas of crushed pebbles.
A lovely elongated palate in which the lemon and lime twirl together producing an enlivening twisted sherbet flavour, something I really look for in riesling and don’t encounter enough. Ripe pears are embedded in honeydew melons, guavas are melded with mandarins and very unusually in riesling there is an underlying nuttiness akin to subtle raw cashews, some rind emerges a little later and then you notice that mineral earth is a bed the entire experience seems planted in. The acidity is trademark riesling with genuine verve and vigorous energy. This is certainly not Polish Hill River but Watervale, Eden and Tamar Valleys would be proud to claim this wine.
I may be incorrect but I believe this is the first Heritage Estate wine I’ve tasted that’s been made entirely by their new wine maker Stephen Oliver. In this case there has been an uninterrupted transition as, without other knowledge, I would have called this a John Handy wine.
I especially appreciate that Heritage Estate have labelled this as ‘Somme’ Riesling indicating the non-estate fruit source while acknowledging the contribution of another local grower and ‘micro-terroir’ effects of that vineyard. For those who may not know the fruit source is from a vineyard at Somme Lane off Emu Swamp Road towards Ballandean. Rob Fenwick told me that whenever Heritage Estate uses non-estate fruit they intend to give credit to the source vineyard on the label, I really applaud this decision.
Tasted: Friday 12th May, 2023 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 12.4%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $28
Suggested Drinking Window: now to 2030
Winemakers: Stephen Oliver
Fruit Source: Somme Lane
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