Mount Horrocks 'Watervale' Clare Valley Riesling
Country: Australia Region: South Australia Vintage: 2021
Varietal: Riesling Category: White Wine Color: White
Producer: Mount Horrocks
"Mount Horrocks is owned by winemaker Stephanie Toole, who restricts production to approximately 4000 cases per year in order to achieve her aims of quality and single vineyard expression. The Clare Valley winery was established in 1980 and purchased by Stephanie in 1993, since when she has made significant improvements to the wines, vineyards and winery. In 2014, the winery and vineyards were organically certified by the ACO (Australian Certified Organic).
Stephanie describes her wines as 'hand made food wines' with an emphasis on structure as well as generous fruit flavours. All grapes are estate grown and hand picked from three separate organically managed vineyards: Auburn vineyard for the 'Cordon Cut'; Watervale vineyard for the Riesling, Semillon and Shiraz; and Polish Hill River vineyard for the Cabernet Sauvignon, totalling nearly 10 hectares in the Clare Valley. Her persistence with classic, no-compromise winemaking and a fully integrated organic approach to growing sets Mount Horrocks wines apart from the mainstream.
Each release from Stephanie seems to eclipse the quality standard set by the previous vintage. The Watervale Riesling is a regional classic, while the 'Cordon Cut' Riesling ranks among Australia's best sweet wines. Stephanie's Shiraz gets better every year. Stephanie decided to make a Nero d'Avola after falling for the variety on a trip to Italy. Hand picked at full ripeness, it is a wine that is bright and lively, medium weight and bursting with muscular fruit."
Product Features: Certified Organic;Vegan;Vegetarian
Product Allergens: Sulphites Label
Winemaker: Stephanie Toole
Vineyards:
The low yielding Watervale vineyards have a southerly facing aspect and soils are a mixture of red loam, loamy/clay. The fruit comes from a single, unirrigated, hand pruned vineyard. These Riesling vines were originally two wire trained (the majority of Clare Valley producers still use the traditional two wire training system). Stephanie however chose to change the training system so that the canopies are now trained upwards, with foliage wires and vertical shoot positioning.
Vinification:
The grapes were hand picked in the cool of the morning, cool crushed and de-stemmed and only the free run juice was used. The must is fermented by neutral yeasts in stainless steel tanks and fermented to dryness. No malolactic fermentation occurred to allow the pure expression of the variety and single vineyard site to shine through.
Tasting Notes:
"Bright, translucent and youthful. Classic Mount Horrocks delicacy: lemon blossom and spice florals, lime juice and passionfruit, with mineral notes, crunchy acidity and supple length. Pure, super fine and beautifully rounded.
Food Suggestion: Gorgeous as an aperitif, it also matches very well with pork rillettes or seafood.
Closure: Stelvin ABV:12.5% Acidity [g/l]: 7.6
