Clare Valley Riesling: hard rock or soft rock with Vietnamese stir fried prawns?

Prepping for a tasting of Jeffrey Grosset’s and Stephanie Toole’s wines last Friday got me in the mood for Clare Valley Riesling.  Good timing because a mate had just given me a recipe for Vietnamese stir fried prawns.  With more than a squeeze of lime juice and a handful of fresh mint and coriander, I reckoned it’d make the perfect match for a youthful, primary and pure, lime-fuelled  Clare Valley Riesling. 

Though fabulously taut and mineral, Jim Barry Lodge Hill Riesling 2008’s streak of salty limes ran well with the dish though I’ve a hunch that, with a touch more mid-palate generosity and fruit sweetness, a less austere soft-rock Riesling from Clare Valley’s Watervale sub-region might have been even better.

So call me a nerd, but next time I make Vietnamese stir fried prawns,  I’ll be experimenting with soft rock and hard rock Rieslings!  Perhaps Jim Barry Lodge Hill Riesling from slate bedrock hard soils versus Jim Barry Florita from Watervale’s soft rock limestone or the classic soft rock/hard rock comparison, Grosset Springvale Watervale Riesling versus Grosset Polish Hill Riesling.  Will let you know how I go!