Thinking out of the box: Australia’s Riesling boffins

I think of Riesling as the thinking person’s white grape variety.  So what happens when three of Australia’s Riesling boffins – Jeffrey Grosset, Pewsey Vale’s Robert Hill-Smith and Mac Forbes  – put their thinking caps on, destination out of the box?  The answer is mesh and Mesh in the case of Grosset and Hill-Smith and tradition in Tradition for Forbes, two diametrically opposed Rieslings.  Here are my tasting notes on the delicious fruits of their labour, both of which I’ve tasted this last week:

Mesh 2007 (Eden Valley)  – first made in 2002, Grosset and Robert-Hill Smith “pedantically” divide the harvest, individually vinifying the fruit of alternate rows in subtly different ways before getting together to nut out the final blend.  In 2007, a drought year (rainfall was less than 40% of the average) with higher temperatures than usual, their aim to produce “long, rich flavours with a greater emphasis on power, generosity, persistence and texture than is normally seen” is beautifully realised.  This rich yet lipsmacking Riesling, heady with kaffir lime, lime cordial  and lime juice, is defined by the generosity of its pure, unadulterated  fruit – Aussie protective winemaking at its best and a fabulous summer tonic.  £14.95 at Slurp.

 Mac Forbes Tradition Riesling 2008 (Strathbogie Ranges) – in contrast, Forbes takes a more hands on, then off, approach with Riesling, here pushed to the limit.  This wine was hand plunged for 10 ten days, then left on skins and lees for no less than three months before being pressed into (old) barrel (just the one).  Though he cheerfully admits, when we met up last week, that it went through some stinky phases, after nine months in barrel it emerged almost as pure and delicate as a new born.  Skin contact may account for its “drier” texture and taste when compared to Mesh, but this taut wine shows terrific minerality and precision, with a subtle leesy tang to its lemon, apple and quince notes.  Not a million miles from a hard rock, schist-derived dry Loire Chenin Blanc from Anjou or Savennieres, like them, this limpid Riesling from Strathbogie Ranges, a “granite massif,” remains resolutely tight, taut and mineral over the couple of days I nurse the bottle. 

Unfortunately, because there’s only one barrel of this counter-cultural Aussie Riesling, it’s not exported to the UK, however I can equally recommend Mac Forbes RS 37 Riesling 2008, an off-dry style (37g/l of residual sugar), which sees a modest hour or so of skin contact and lees contact.  As the butterfly label suggests, this is a very pretty, lifted Riesling with a crystalline purity to its lime/lime blossom palate.   What’s more, with terrific line and tension, for me it’s the most deftly balanced example of this niche but growing (off dry) style I’ve seem coming out of Australia.  Barely off-dry.  Also £14.95 at Slurp and £15.99 at Noel Young.