March 10, 2026, Riesling Tasting
WINE TASTING
Flight 1
Wine 1: 2021 Trail Estate Barrel Riesling
Pale white gold in colour. A bit of light haze. Oxidative nose offering up notes of old oak, cider apples, baking spice and dried ginger. Dry with high acid, good weight and tension. Nice length. Stony mineral note on the finish.
Wine 2: 2022 Cave Spring CSV Riesling
Medium gold colour. Nose is dominated by mineral notes; petrol and wet slate. Dry with electric acidity, significant mid-palate weight. There is a pleasant bit of phenolic grip on the finish. Plenty of complexity on the palate with stony minerality, lees, honey, lanolin and ginger. Outstanding length.
Wine 3: 2024 Tzafona Riesling
Pale green straw. Pronounced and pure aromas of lime, elderflower, pine pollen and lychee. Quite sweet on the palate with high acid and lots of racy, green fruit character. Green apple, underripe mango, gooseberry. Almost reminiscent of a not very ripe muscat or gewurztraminer. Very expressive. Good length.
Flight 2
Wine 4: Thirty Bench Sparkling Riesling
Straw hue with fine bubbles. Aromatic nose offering up honeyed ripe apple, ginger, peach, grilled lemon and autolytic notes. Well-balanced dosage. Lemon custard, shortbread, apple and honey on the palate. Beautifully textured mousse. Good length.
Wine 5: 2021 London Born “Croydon” Riesling
Pale straw. Moderately aromatic nose. Peach, lime, sweet floral aromas and just a hint of a sweaty, honeyed note. Off-dry with fresh acidity and medium body. Well-balanced. Flavours repeat the aromatics on the palate. Very pleasant with good length. Classic Ontario style off-dry Riesling.
Wine 6: 2019 King + Victoria Riesling
Gold in the glass. Aromatic nose of ginger, grilled pineapple, underripe mango and canned apple juice. Quite full on the palate; almost dry with moderate acid. The flavours are once again in the spice and almost tropical fruit arena. Good length.
Flight 3
Wine 7: 2023 Loimer Riesling, Kamptal, Austria
Pale lemon. Aromatic nose of smoky gunflint, pear drop, lime and white flowers. Racy with high acid and a linear structure. Good mid-palate weight. Dominated by lemon lime, green apple and pear flavours. Good length.
Wine 8: 2018 Modernist Dry Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany
Stony, smoky and reductive notes lead the charge on the nose with delicate floral notes following after. Off-dry with high acid and medium body. Good length.
Wine 9: 2023 Pauly Helden Alte Reben Dry Riesling, Mosel, Germany
A hint of spritz in the glass. The nose is a bit shy at the moment. Slightly reduced character on the nose. Well-balanced with high acidity and a hint of residual sugar. A little phenolic character on the back end. Flavours are more expressive than the nose, providing an intriguing combination of both herbal and fruit notes: thai basil, mint, white flowers, lychee and white peach.
Flight 4
Wine 10: 2019 Casa Silva Lago Ranco Riesling, Osorno Valley, Southern Region, Chilean Patagonia
Lemon-straw hue. Quite subdued on the nose. Aromatics of apple and peach. Reasonably balanced. Maybe a bit on the sweet side, but there is pretty high acid to offset the sweetness. Decent length. Simple but varietally correct and pleasant.
Wine 11: 2018 Frank John Riesling, Pfalz, Germany
Medium gold colour. Aromatic nose. Stony and smoky with barrel ferment notes such as nutmeg and lees. Dry with high acidity and good weight. Complex and long. Great texture and outstandingly long, mineral finish. Feels to be a story more about site and soil than exuberant fruit. Excellent quality.
Flight 5
Wine 12: 2024 Moselland Riesling Cat Bottle, Rheinhessen, Germany
Expressive and aromatic on the nose. Smoky, apple, lemon-lime, green mango, resinous/coniferous notes. Dry with zesty acid and flavours of gooseberry, grapefruit and lemon-lime. Good length with an almost salty mineral finish.
Wine 13: 2023 Martin Vajcner Ryzlink Rynsky, Riesling, Moravia, Czech Republic
Hazy with a cidery, bruised apple and baking spice nose. A bit lifted. The acidity feels a bit aggressive on the palate. Dry and mid-weight with considerable phenolics on the palate with flavours suggesting significant skin contact: cider apples, baking spices, smoked tea. Good length. Quite interesting and complex, but falls outside the conventional aesthetic paradigm for Riesling.
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