2017 Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley, Australia
Critics reviews
Joe Czerwinski - 31/01/2019
James Halliday
About this WINE
Grosset
Jeffrey Grosset, an oenology graduate, gained extensive experience with major Australian wine companies like Lindemans before establishing his winery 21 years ago in Auburn, Clare Valley.
The winery is housed in a charming old butter and ice factory. Currently, 65% of grape intake comes from vineyards owned or managed by Grosset Wines. These vineyards are known for their advanced vine canopy management and minimal chemical use for pest and disease control. The remaining grapes are thoughtfully sourced from growers who share Grosset’s commitment to quality.
Riesling is the Clare Valley’s signature varietal, and Grosset produces two distinct styles. The Watervale Riesling grows in reddish clay loam over limestone, delivering a floral and lifted profile. Polish Hill Riesling, located in the east, features more acidic quartzy soils with loamy clay over shale and slate. These wines are handcrafted, understated, and designed for ageing.In 1998, Jeffrey Grosset was honoured with the title 'Riesling Winemaker of the Year' in Hamburg, Germany, reflecting his exceptional work with the Riesling grape. His Polish Hill Riesling holds an outstanding rating in Langton’s classification, alongside iconic wines like Penfolds Grange and Clarendon Hills Astralis.
Clare Valley
If ever there was a list of Australian terroirs, Clare Valley would be near the top. Its geographical position an hour north of Adelaide, its latitude and heat degree days (over the growing season) suggest a very hot clime suited to reds. Yet white wines prevail as these factors are offset by an average altitude of 398m (versus Geisenheim at 100m), low relative humidity (37 percent versus 56 percent), high sunshine hours, significant continentality levels (albeit less Geisenheim), cooling south-westerly sea breezes and prime, low, fertile red loam over marly limestone and shale soils set in cooling hill pockets. Irrigation is strictly controlled and less called for in the dry climate.
Taut lime-sherbet Rieslings with fine minerality and ageing capacity are the region's most famous product, followed by Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The town of Clare, founded by Irishman Edward Gleeson in 1840, first prospered on the back of copper mining, then a wheat and wine boom during the late 1800s. Vines were first planted in 1853 by an itinerant Cornishman at a site near present-day Watervale, and Birks Wendouree was founded before the century was over. The corporates moved in during the 1960s dry-wine boom, although there remains a core group of small, family-owned estates.
Recommended Producers: Grosset and Jim Barry Wines are among the leading exponents of the Clare Valley style.
Riesling
Riesling's twin peaks are its intense perfume and its piercing crisp acidity which it manages to retain even at high ripeness levels.
In Germany, Riesling constitutes around 20% of total plantings, yet it is responsible for all its greatest wines. It is planted widely on well-drained, south-facing slate-rich slopes, with the greatest wines coming from the best slopes in the best villages. It produces delicate, racy, nervy and stylish wines that cover a wide spectrum of flavours from steely and bone dry with beautifully scented fruits of apples,apricots, and sometimes peaches, through to the exotically sweet flavours of the great sweet wines.
It is also an important variety in Alsace where it produces slightly earthier, weightier and fuller wines than in Germany. The dry Rieslings can be austere and steely with hints of honey while the Vendages Tardives and Sélection de Grains Nobles are some of the greatest sweet wines in the world.
It is thanks to the New World that Riesling is enjoying a marked renaissance. In Australia the grape has developed a formidable reputation, delivering lime-sherbet fireworks amid the continental climate of Clare Valley an hour's drive north of Adelaide, while Barossa's Eden Valley is cooler still, producing restrained stony lime examples from the elevated granitic landscape; Tasmania is fast becoming their third Riesling mine, combining cool temperatures with high UV levels to deliver stunning prototypes.
New Zealand shares a similar climate, with Riesling and Pinot Gris neck to neck in their bid to be the next big thing after Sauvignon Blanc; perfectly suited is the South Island's Central Otago, with its granitic soils and continental climate, and the pebbly Brightwater area near Nelson. While Australia's Rieslings tend to be full-bodied & dry, the Kiwis are more inclined to be lighter bodied, more ethereal and sometimes off-dry; Alsace plays Mosel if you like.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
A personal favourite of mine and the Riesling that opened my eyes to this wonderful grape, it would be easy to get misty eyed and assume this is great. Thankfully, the 2017 lives up to its billing and might be one of the best wines Jeff Grosset has ever made. Taut with vibrant citrus, especially the lime lead character that Clare is famous for, this is ultra-steely and mineral, seeming to go on forever. Sensational stuff. This will benefit from 5 or 6 years in the cellar to open up. Sign me up for at least a case! +.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager +
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