Petaluma Hanlin Hill Clare Valley Riesling 2012
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Wine & Spirits
Located in the northeastern hills above Clare, Petaluma’s riesling vineyard was planted in 1968 at an altitude between 1,300 and 1,650 feet. Those old vines, growing in red loam over slate, produced a wine with layers of flavor and abundant fruit in 2012. The scents range from lime to orange, with floral highlights. The flavors are riper, hinting at tropical fruits, cinched by a mineral acidity that seems colored by the slate. Best to either enjoy this immediately, or cellar it eight to ten years. A classic from Clare.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is floral on the nose, offering up hints of talcum powder and restrained fruit. Yet the apple, cinnamon and lime flavors bust out on the palate before ending in a long, potent, citrusy finish. Drink now or hold up to 10 years.
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Wine Spectator
Crisp and lively, this delivers a tart mouthful of pear, peach and lime flavors that keep zinging on the dry finish. Best from 2015 through 2025.
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Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
The Clare Valley is actually a series of narrow north to south valleys, each with a different soil type and slightly different weather patterns along their stretch. In the southern heartland between Watervale and Auburn, there is mainly a crumbled, red clay loam soil called terra rossa and cool breezes come in from Gulf St. Vincent. A few miles north, in Polish Hill, is soft, red loam over clay; westerlies blowing in from the Spencer Gulf influece this area's climate.
The differences in soil, elevation, degree of slope and weather enable the region to produce some of Australia’s finest, aromatic, spicy and lime-pithy Rieslings, as well as excellent Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec with ripe plummy fruit, good acid and big structure.
Clare Valley is an isolated farming country with a continental climate known for its warm and sunny days, followed by cool nights—perfect for wine grapes’ development of sugar and phenolic ripeness in conjunction with notable acidity levels.