First (fabulous) taste: 2012 Grosset Springvale’ Watervale Riesling & Grosset Polish Hill Riesling

When I taste Jeffrey Grosset’s Rieslings, though I’m sure their tremendous purity and vigour is the perfect cobweb cleaner, I like to feel grounded, with space to give my very best attention to these powerful yet subtle wines. So, given all my recent travels, it has taken me a while to sample his latest releases from 2012.

They’re also my first taste of the much heralded 2012 vintage. One of the best experienced by Grosset, who describes the weather conditions as “ideal.” Hand tending of the organically managed vineyards once again included fruit thinning early in the season, while warm sunny conditions and the absence of rain late in the season meant the vintage was compacted and quite early. Eighty per cent of the harvest took place within an intense nine-day period.

Grosset says, “we have not added any acid since at least 2010 when, from memory, a small amount was added to a couple of the last picked from Springvale” (but not to the Polish Hill “since probably 2008”). He attributes this to – “two possible reasons (or a mix of both)” :

• seasonal conditions in 2011 and 2012 meant the (natural) acidity was ideal when we picked and no addition was necessary nor would have been of benefit;
• continually improving vineyard conditions, albeit in small steps given the ongoing work there over the years, and the registration for organic certification (which started in 2010) has meant that each of our procedures has been recently thoroughly reviewed/audited.

To preserve his wines’ freshness and purity, they are sealed under screwcap, of which Grosset is a pioneer. So who better on behalf of the Australian Screwcap Initiative to collect the Australian Wine Industry’s most prestigious award, the 2012 McWilliam’s Maurice O’Shea Award, than Grosset. In his acceptance speech, which you can read here, Grosset called on Australia to continue to lead the world and change tradition, saying “[I]f the Chinese accept screw caps as Australians have done, they will want to buy Australian wine.” Bravo!

And returning to 2012, I can confirm that the future is looking rosy if, as the word on the street suggests, Grosset’s wines are a reflection of a fantastic vintage country-wide. At any rate, in the words of Julie Andrews, they’re a very good place to start and, quite frankly, still wildly good bang for buck given their outstanding quality.

Here are my notes on the DO-RE (give it to me!) barometer of the vintage:

Grosset Springvale’ Watervale Riesling 2012 (Clare Valley)

Tight but distinctly Watervale in its kaffir lime lift and zing of lime juice, both of which follow through on the juiciest, most mouthwatering palate in an arc of flavour. There’s plenty of mouthfeel and mouthfill here – wonderful depth and concentration. And there’s chalk dust! A complexing textural note, which makes for a very long, rolling finish. Beautifully balanced, pure and uplifting – convex of palate – forget Springvale, this has the tension, flex and release of a springboard. According to Grosset the 2012 “appears the tightest and most ageworthy of the Springvale Rieslings” and he fully expects it to continue moving closer in quality terms to its Polish Hill sibling. RRP £22.99

Grosset Polish Hill 2012 (Clare Valley)

Where the Watervale’s arc of flavour makes for a convex palate, the concave Polish Hill draws you in. Tensile, pure but seemingly pithily textured and pitted with minerals (dry extract), it’s wondrously powerful, with palpable palate presence – real weight and pull. Though penetrating, the still ever so tightly focused finish reverberates with potential. Phenomenal. I can well understand why Grosset reckons it “may well rival the 2002 and 1982 as the greatest ever”. RRP £27.99