Ridgemill Estate Riesling 2013

You don't see much Riesling in the Granite Belt, I know only of Felsberg, Witches Falls producing it, and now can add Ridgemill Estate to that list.

Riesling is quite possibly the white variety that best reflects terroir. It is said that Riesling on Granite tends to be fruitier, and that Riesling excels in well drained soils with poor fertility.

The fruit source here is eight year old vines from Somme Lane near Ballandean at the Southern end of the Granite Belt, and this is the first time that Ridgemill has used the fruit from this site, and is indeed their and winemaker Peter McGlashan's first Riesling.


The fruit was hand-picked on 7th February at about 11 baumè, transported back to the winery where it was de-stemmed/ crushed and basket pressed to tank to settle. The vineyard has about 3 hectares in total, here the winery opted to take 2 hectares at a total of about 2.5 tonnes of fruit. 

After settling, it was placed into a fermentation tank for 30 days for a long cool ferment. Post-fermentation it was racked off lees, sulphured  left on fine-lees for a period prior to bottling. Interestingly - something for the nerds - the yeast used was from a strain identified of Pinot Noir from Tyrrell's in the Hunter Valley.  

The Wine
Shows honey/ honeysuckle, white florals with hints of peachy stonefruit, gentle aromatics, attractive. Less 'in your face' than many may be used too. On the palate, again it's quite light, clean, hints of lime brulee. Acid here is nicely balanced to the pitch of the flavour. 

Shows a touch gin 'n' tonic mineral-esque with a lime twist. It's not about fullness of flavour, there's a delicate element of shape and texture here. 

The Future
I spoke at some length with winemaker Peter McGlashan about the wine, looking to understand a little about his approach. As it was his first attempt at Riesling, Peter wasn't shy in divulging in that he had sought opinion from regarded Riesling producers David Bowley and David O'Leary, that he was happy with how the wine had turned out, seeking floral character - yet did indicate he would have like to have seen greater lemon/ lime concentration in the resultant wine.

The fruit has been secured for 2014 and with that agreement in place McGlashan was looking to have greater input into the viticulture. Good first effort, 89 - Good

Tasted on: Saturday 27th July, a Flower Day
Source: Sample
Price: $18
Alcohol: 11.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://ridgemillestate.com/ridgemill-estate-wines/

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Resources:
1) http://rieslingrules.com/the_book/vineyards-and-winemaking/
2) http://lovelygrapes.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/how-do-you-like-your-riesling.html