Sometimes I have trouble getting into this wine but no such problems tonight. It's a cracker.
Intense, racy bath salt-like aromas overlay a good deal of floral, mineral notes and some fine citrus rind. It's incredibly complex for a young Riesling which, like other simply made white styles, can seem simple in youth. Not this one, though; it exudes sophistication and confidence, not through volume or excess, but simply by being classically well-built from tip to toe. I'm sniffing this wine again and again and there's more to extract each time.
The palate is, if anything, even more impressive, as it adds great thrust and length to the nose's proportioned, complex aroma profile. It's a curious thing -- intensity that sings with minerality rather than fruit flavour -- I love it. The entry is immediate thanks mostly to some pretty assertive acidity, and it all builds from here to a middle palate of great shape and flinty texture. There's an edge of sweetness that softens the relatively austere flavour profile, and this smidge of soft focus makes this Polish Hill more approachable than some others I have tried. Swift movement through the after palate to a reverberant finish of snazzy length.
Many critics tend to rate the Polish Hill above the Watervale, and in this instance I'd have to agree. What a great Riesling.
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