Riesling Tasting

I attended a Riesling tasting on Saturday night. I must say, after having tasted 15 Rieslings or so, it would have been nice to have had a red wine. They simply ofter more opportunities for differentiation, I think. Having said this, the quality on offer was good. These were Rieslings from many parts of Australia, and some from Germany and Alsace, mostly from the 09 and 10 vintages.

Almost all wines displayed well balanced acidity, perhaps the most important aspect of Riesling. While the Australian Rieslings were good, my two favorites came from Europe. Because the tasting was a somewhat rambunctious affair, I made only very few notes, so the comments will be brief. The 2010 Donnhoff Estate Riesling from the Nahe offered a complex palate, dry yet slightly perfumed. The 2008 Trimbach Riesling from Alsace was full bodied, yet zesty. I would rate the 2010 O'Leary Walker 'Dry Cut' Polish River Riesling just behind. This wine is as pure and dry as it gets, with a long finish.

In the next group, I would have the 2010 Seppelt Drumborg Riesling, the 2009 Leo Buring 'Leonay', the 2010 O'Leary Walker Polish Hill and the 2010 Cardinham Estate 'Braeburn' Riesling. These wines all have good balance, but lack that little bit extra I found in the first group. I also rated the 2009 Albert Mann Schlossberg Riesling with this group. This wine showed more minerality than the other wines, in which lemon or lime flavours dominate.

The disappointments for me were the 2010 Frankland Estate wines, the 'Netley Road' and the 'Poison Hill', the 2010 Lethbridge 'Dr. Nadeson', the 2010 Petaluma 'Hanlin Hill', the 2008 Tim Adams Reserve and the 2009 Olssens Dry Riesling from Central Otago. Some of this is a personal bias against fruitiness in Riesling, but some of these also showed a broad palate and a flat finish, and lacked acidity.

Overall, a good time was had by all. Needless to say, there were another 25 Rieslings I did not manage to taste.