Pale yellow, with a tinge of green. Apple blossom, hints of fennel and juicy, ripe stone fruits. A year showing full flavour ripeness, finesse and bright, balanced natural acidity. This wine is generous with a lovely zest.
Food Match: Chilli crab and infact most seafood.
As with all Vickery Rieslings, this wine will be bright and fresh in its youth yet will reward careful cellaring for 10 -20 years.
John Vickery is the acknowledged old master of Riesling in Australia, with an illustrious career spanning over fifty years, culminating in the extraordinary awards tally of more than fifty trophies and over four hundred gold medals.
The Rieslings he crafted from Watervale (in the Clare Valley) and Eden Valley (in the Barossa) stand tall as the epitome of this most majestic grape variety, each with a unique South Australian and sub-regional thumbprint. Vickery wines are made in collaboration with talented winemaker and family friend Philip Lehmann, so that John's winemaking methods and knowledge will be preserved and passed on for generations to come, for the benefit of all lovers of classic Australian Riesling.
The Vickery Watervale Riesling is a classic example of this wine style. Bright vivacious colour, lifted aromatics with intense fruit flavours on the middle palate. Fresh lime acidity completes a long and persistent finish.
"The fruit is from several vineyard sources, with some of the material dating back to plantings from 1975. Quintessential Clare Valley riffs on Rose’s lime juice, quince paste, tonic, preserved lemon rind, wild fennel and gardenias. Dry and medium-bodied by virtue of the sheer extract and density of the mouthfeel. Yet despite the dryness, there is nothing hard. Tactile and impressively juicy across a tenacious finish. Impressive. Drink or hold. Screw cap."
94 points.
James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (April 2024)
"In September 2023, I tasted this wine blind as part of a Value For Money tasting, and today it is part of a larger vertical of Vickery Riesling, going back to 2014. This 2023 Watervale Riesling is a lovely wine, floral and pretty, with talc and a lingering finish that curls and wisps across the palate. It's really nicely done. The fruit comes from seven vineyard blocks across the Watervale district in Clare Valley. 12% alcohol. Drink to 2037."
92 points.
Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (May 2024)
Type: White Wine
Country: Australia
Region: South Australia
Vintage: 2023
ABV: 12
Size: 75cl
Vegan: Certified