Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 The Contours Museum Reserve Riesling shows lovely, evolving lanolin and petrol notes, with beeswax and toast over a core of lemon curd, lemongrass and lime leaves. There is some honey, as well. This is a dry, light and expressive Riesling with tons of layers of flavor, as well as a long finish.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This release is always among my favorite Aussie Rieslings. Not only is the quality consistent, the price for a nearing-maturity wine makes it a winning value. It is smoky and toasty on the nose, showing off those developed aromas to good effect against a background of bergamot-tinged fruit. The round patina of age is balanced by great acid drive and a long, mouthwatering finish. Drink now–2020.
Editors' Choice. -
Wine & Spirits
Louisa Rose selects this wine from the coolest hillside at Pewsey Vale, a vineyard first planted in 1847 and restored by the Hill-Smith family in the 1960s. She releases it five years after the vintage, when the wine has just begun to open. This 2010 is still youthfully austere, with a brisk, dramatic spiciness, a lime-leaf and mineral flavor that lasts. It should continue to mature over the next decade.
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Wine Spectator
Strikes a lovely balance between petrol, lanolin and toasted almond notes, with dry, vibrant lime and lemon meringue flavors. Fresh and focused, presenting a long, lingering finish. Drink now through 2026.
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.