Winemaker Notes
Bright, pale gold with vibrant lime hues. Lifted aromas of citrus blossom, kaffir limeleaf, bath salts and lime zest, with hints of stone-fruit, lemongrass and green peppercorns. Intense and focused, the palate shows concentrated flavors of zesty lime,ripe citrus and green peppercorn,supported by a pure, clean line of refined acidity and minerality, for a long, tight finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
There's a really harmonious feel to this wine. As young as it is, it really delivers a smoothly fragrant nose with a convincingly polished, ripe lemon and nectarine palate. Screw cap.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Julius Riesling leaps from the glass with beautiful lime blossom, lemon curd and white grapefruit notes with suggestions of jasmine, lanolin and hay. Light-bodied, pure, clean, refreshing and very dry, it has an almost electric intensity and very long, mineral-laced finish.
Rating: 92+ -
Wine & Spirits
This is completely closed at first, so that all it offers is a soft, clean texture. Some initial notes of grapefruit evolve with a day of air into complex layers of juicy, fragrant and substantial citrus flavors, the structure tight and austerely dry. The cool, foresty tones in the finish show the wine’s staying power. Check on this eight years from the vintage; it should thrive for decades.
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.
Higher in elevation and topographically more dramatic than the Barossa Valley floor, Eden Valley abuts it to its south and east. While it is a bit of an extension of Barossa, Eden Valley is topographically different than the pastoral Barossa Valley, and is composed of rocky hills and eucalyptus groves.
Recognizing Eden Valley’s potential with Riesling in the 1960s and 70s, producers started to move their Riesling production from Barossa to these better sites where schist soils on hilltops would produce more steely, tart and age-worthy examples. A most famous site, planted by Colin Gramp, called Steingarten, today produces one of the most outstanding Australian Rieslings. Youthful Eden Valley Rieslings express floral, grapefruit and mineral, while with time in the bottle, they become increasingly toasty and complex.
Riesling isn’t the only grape the region can grow; undeniably at lower altitudes Shiraz does very well. Mount Edelstone is a notable vineyard as well as the Hill of Grace, which boasts healthy Shiraz vines well over 100 years old. This is the only Australian region where Merlot has a made a name for itself and Chardonnay can be spectacular, particularly from the High Eden subregion in the southern valley.