Riesling

Unlike their European counterparts, Australian Rieslings are generally made in dry styles.  The result is another international gem, which due to their crisp fruit and acid balance are a perfect food accompaniment.

Riesling also has an ability to mature with age as well as delight with its youthful freshness.  Look out for examples from the Clare or Eden Valleys of South Australia which develop this grape’s classic honey and citrus characters.

There are more fine examples of Rieslings from Western Australia’s Great Southern region (great complexity), from Tasmania (crisp and perfumed) and the Barossa Valley (more rounded and full-flavoured). 

Riesling is also responsible for some of Australia’s greatest sticky sweet dessert wines.  They’re either made with a touch of that benevolent mould botrytis or harvested when all the berries have dried and shrivelled on the vines in late autumn.  In either case, the perfumed rich intensity of these wines, still with their racy acidity, is little short of magnificent.