The Koerner Riesling is grown on the Koerner family vineyard, Gullyview, in Watervale, Clare Valley.
This vineyard has been farmed by the Koerners for 35 years, the sons Damon and Jonathan are intimate with the fruit and it shows. This is Watervale Riesling with more character and texture than the 'classic' styles of wine the region is famous for.
The fruit spent 6 hours on skins and was fermented and aged in a combination of stainless steel and ceramic amphora for 2 months. No fining, filtering or additions apart from a smidge of sulphur. It has texture and vitality and a load of interest. It's an alternative look at a staple of the Australian wine landscape by a family-owned operation. Great stuff.
Brought to life through the Gullyview and Parish Vineyards of Clare Valley. Now in screwcap closure.
A potency to this wine, texture and savoury elements with strong currency of green apple, tart lime and gingery spice woven through. A faint accord of hazelnut nuttiness, a lick of creaminess and yet crisp edges and a brittle core of mineral charged acidity. It feels so distinct from run-of-the-mill Clare Valley riesling archetypes, delivering complexity through its various elements, and yet so composed. Excellent.
The 2023 Watervale Gullyview & Parish Vineyards Riesling leads with lanolin and cheesecloth, scratched citrus and brine. In the mouth, the wine is plump and juicy but driven by edgy acidity. This is quite an exciting wine to drink; it feels textural and elemental and even a little primal. It's great. I find this the most immediately appealing of the Rieslings on the bench here today; perhaps it's not as pure as some of the others, but this feels very complete. 11.6% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.