I’ve tasted a few not-quite-new Rieslings of late, and the 2002 Grosset Watervale

A fascinating counterpoint to its Watervale sibling, this wine would be a great education for those drinkers who think of Australian wine as a terroir-free zone. I’m not sure it would turn any drinkers on to Riesling, though. That sounds like a put-down, but it’s reflective merely of style, not quality. For those converts among us, it’s pure pleasure.A delicate, wispy nose that presents a riot of high toned aromas. There are florals, minerality, slate, etc. The tiniest hint of toast also registers and it’s the only element that indicates the six years that have passed between vintage and this tasting. Compared to the Watervale, this is a much more restrained wine, no less complex, but different nonetheless. With some time in glass, rounder fruit notes also emerge, yet the overall profile remains lithe and chiselled. On entry, bright, ultra-fine acidity freshens the palate and ushers beautifully delineated flavours onto the mid-palate. There’s more slate and mineral, hints of powdery lime blossom, and some edges of honey too, all showing excellent intensity despite the ultra-light palate weight. It’s elusive in a way, both structured and ephemeral, like a puff of smoke that shows unexpected geometry before spiralling into the sky. Fruit gains weight on the after palate, and the finish sings with mineral and honey in equal measure. So, so elegant. It’s a wine that screams quality, but is considerably more intellectual an experience than the Watervale. Reading Chris’s earlier note, I concur with his description minus the petrol, which I’m not getting from this bottle. This is just starting to age, and I’m going to leave my next tasting for another two to three years.GrossetPrice: $A40Closure: StelvinDate tasted: July 2008

There are a lot of reasons why Riesling deserves a bit of love. It’s refreshing, tasty and is generally excellent value. I like it most, though, for its transparency. When made in the usual Australian dry style, there’s nowhere to hide, with vintage conditions shining through clearly. This makes Riesling the most tantalising of grapes; a great year, when it happens, promises so much. Tasting a Riesling from such a vintage is like tasting the potential of wine fully expressed. Such a Riesling with bottle age, then, simply multiplies the anticipation. Perhaps I should start this note with my conclusion: that this wine is extraordinary and beautiful. Now that I’ve set the scene, I can try to describe it adequately. On the nose, delicate aromas of white stonefruit, a hint of honey, flint, etc. As with the best wines, the aromas are in a sense indistinguishable from each other, because they fit together so elegantly. There are some influences from bottle age here, but I suggest they are limited to a sense of honey and softness that may not have been present in the youthful wine. It’s certainly not a full-blown aged style, which makes sense considering the vintage and closure (Stelvin). The palate is a wonderful mixture of freshness and rich flavour. Tingly, steely acid hits the tongue immediately on entry, and is somewhat deceptive in terms of the wine’s flavour development. Although the structure remains youthful, the mid palate reveals definite aged influences, as yet subtle, but indicative of a promising development path.  Honey, round stonefruit and lime juice are well balanced between each other, without the awkwardness of some Rieslings in the middle of their development period. I don’t know whether it’s a question of quality or simply fortunate timing, but some Rieslings just seem to taste awesome at each stage of their development, whereas others hit their straps at a certain point and, outside of this window, can seem gangly and unbalanced. This Grosset is definitely the former type; it’s a wine that seems to glide effortlessly into the moment, composed and confident. Beautifully structured acid that mellows somewhat with time in glass carries flavour through the after palate and onto a finish that clings to the tongue like a determined celebrity stalker. Just excellent. What more to say?GrossetPrice: $A35Closure: StelvinDate tasted: June 2008

If Riesling is daggy enough, then aged Riesling would surely give our fortified Muscats and Tokays a run as most unfashionable wine style. How unfair (on all fronts). For starters, like the fortifieds, many of Australia’s Riesling styles are quite singular, and on this basis alone worthy of attention. Then there’s the question of kerosene aromas in aged Riesling. I admit to some partiality to these aromas, and personally don’t regard them as a fault if in balance. But this is far from settled. What should aged Riesling taste like? Perhaps some readers might weigh in with opinions here.

To the undoubted relief of some, petrol doesn’t enter into the picture at all with this wine. The integrity of screwcap closures, though, does. This would have to be one of the oldest Stelvin-sealed wines in my cellar, so it was particularly interesting to see a lot of crustiness, attributable I assume to leakage, on and around the screw cap after I had opened this bottle. Mind you, I had to use a pair of multigrips to actually get the cap off, as it was essentially glued to the bottle (we winos are a resourceful lot when it comes to opening wine). I feared the worst.

The colour shows development, but not overly so, with some golden-hay hues that are pretty but not especially dense or rich at this stage. So far, so good. Some definite aged characters on the nose: honey, toast, nuttiness, all those good things. As mentioned above, no kerosene on this one. There’s also little primary fruit, which is interesting because the aged characters, though evident, don’t seem to me to be in full flower. Entry is very lively and recalls a freshly bottled wine rather than one at eight years of age. Very lively, almost spritzy acidity dominates the mouthfeel and creates an odd counterpoint to the aged notes that begin to register on the tongue. As with the nose, there are notes of honey and toast and little primary fruit. Acid becomes more assertive towards the mid-palate and, for me, is quite intrusive given this wine’s stage of flavour development. On the after palate, the honey starts to fade and, as there’s precious little primary fruit, one is left with an impression of toast and sourness and not much else. To the acid’s credit, though, it does push the wine to an excellent, lengthy finish.

The first thing I will note is that I tried a bottle of this about a year ago and was blown away by how good it was. That bottle (looking back on my notes) showed more development and brilliant balance between primary and aged characters. It appears there was also quite a lot more fruit still in evidence. It had me singing the praises of our wonderful, cost effective Rieslings. So I’m led to suspect this bottle isn’t representative, although the fact that its structure is still so youthful is odd. Perhaps the fading primary fruit accentuates this impression. Having said all that, it’s not a bad wine, and if I had tasted this as my first bottle from the cellar, I would simply have said it needs more time for the structure to calm and aged notes to develop further. Perhaps, indeed, that’s all it wants.

Leasingham
Price: $A15ish
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008