Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Grown at an elevation of 1,500 feet in Watervale, the vines at Springvale benefit from the water-holding capacity of limestone under the red loam soils. They produce a generous riesling, round and juicy, smoky with brisk mineral leesiness. The chalky feel of the acidity closes off the flavors, but after each sip, the fruit seems to pull through that chalk wall, lengthening the finish with lemon zest, lemongrass and tarragon. Decant this if you open it now; best to cellar for eight years or more, to allow the wine to open.
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James Suckling
A more elegant and finer-boned riesling that has plenty of lime and apple fruit and some brighter tropical nuances too. The palate starts on a crisp apple thread, then lime and hints of pastry. Screw cap.
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Wine Spectator
Succulent lime, melon and Meyer lemon flavors are precise and vibrant on a light frame, with a note of minerality and lemongrass on the 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.