Winemaker Notes
Pewsey Vale Vineyard The Contours Riesling is characterized by a special site, sensitive vine growing and astute winemaking. The Contours Riesling is crafted from old vines grown on the coolest slope within this ruggedly beautiful single vineyard. Bottle ageing for five years before release transforms this Riesling into a complex wine. More richness and complexity will develop over future decades.
Intense classic lemon aromas, with a hint of white flowers. Bottle aged characters of toast, clove oil and lemongrass emerge and combine with the still fresh citrus and white flowers of its youth. The palate has great length and depth with concentrated power and fresh, pristine lime juice overlaid with toasted brioche, sage oil, and lime marmalade.
Enjoy with duck breast and five-spice glaze or tofu pad Thai with fresh lime wedges.
Vegan-Friendly
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So vibrant for it’s age, this has great concentration of candied-lime and grapefruit-zest character. Terrific structure and energy on the driving palate, but all of this is wrapped in rich citrus fruit to create stunningly complete harmony. Very long and compact finish that suggests this has at least a further decade of aging potential.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 The Contours Riesling leads with cold buttered toast, creamed honey, fennel seeds and brine, while in the mouth, the wine expands to fill every available space. This is rich, complex and so fresh. It's kindly held back in the cellar for our drinking pleasure, so it is definitely ready for immediate consumption; but should you choose to rest this another decade or two, that would also be great.
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Wine Enthusiast
Intensely aromatic, this museum release Riesling, from old vines on a cool site, deftly demonstrates how excellently this variety ages. Honey-roasted almonds, kerosene, lime oil and can- died ginger progress to a dry, concentrated palate. Long, harmonious and fresh, it tingles with still- racy acidity and heaps of lemon-lime and floral flavors.
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.