Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Alea is a landmark Grosset vintage: complex, taut, pure and balanced. The unique characteristics of the Alea vineyard site have been exquisitely captured by a European winemaking approach. It has pristine lemon lime aromatics which entice. These are enhanced by a mouth-puckering intense palate which exhibits both finesse and power and a long and satisfying, chalky finish.
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
Alea Vineyard, a distinct site for Grosset set on red loam over hard-red rock, was planted in 2000. Certified organic and biodynamic. Produced in an off-dry style. A moreish riesling with pitch-perfect sweetness and acidity, mouth-watering and fresh in its feel. Scents of green apple, kaffir lime leaf and lemon lozenges. Flavours combine with the crunch and sweetness of green apple with a good squeeze of tangy lime juice. Gentle fruit sweetness is abetted by cool, briny, lemony acidity and general air of freshness. Ultra appealing and yet with a sense of detail and minerally complexity. An outstanding release which should develop with interest with cellar time.
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James Suckling
A strikingly harmonious dry Clare Valley riesling with aromas of licorice, fennel and lime zest. On the generous and vibrant palate there’s also melon and herbal freshness. Harmoniously dry finish.
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.