The Renaissance of Riesling

The Renaissance of Riesling

Possibly more widely misunderstood than the Orphelia character from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Riesling is a varietal that many of us either love to hate or hate to love. But thanks to contemporary winemaking practices and artisan winemakers, Riesling is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance, with the Clare Valley in South Australia at its epicentre.

It might seem hard to believe, but there was once a time in the 1970’s when Riesling was the biggest selling white wine varietal in Australia. Such was the demand for the drop, that wineries commonly labelled blended white wines under the Riesling label and often sold it in 4 litre casks! Remember those “goon bags”? Or as my mum called it, “cardboardeau.” By the 1980’s Chardonnay took the crown though, as its sales surged past those of “rizza” (as it got nicknamed, perhaps because the varietal was frequently made sickly sweet with high residual sugar).

The extent of the 2020’s rebirth of Riesling is evidenced by data from Wine Australia. In 2023, Riesling plantings in the country covered 3,157 hectares and the total crush was some 20,517 tonnes. We are now officially the world’s second largest Riesling-making country (behind Germany), and perhaps unsurprisingly, the Clare Valley was the biggest contributor to the dataset, accounting for 37% of total annual Riesling production. But it’s not really about quantity, because it’s the world-class quality of what the Clare is making that is the force behind the style’s resurgence.

The high calibre of Clare Riesling is counterintuitive. Normally, the varietal does best in cool climates with a long ripening season. The Clare Valley is quite warm, but with elevations as high as 500m there is a wide range of temperatures between day and night, which ensures full flavour development while retaining the racy acidity that makes for lip-sucking yumminess!

There are plenty of great local wineries, but it’s impossible to ignore the pioneers of the region, Taylors Wines. It’s now 55 years since Bill Taylor famously acquired the family estate, and 3 generations later the brand is still the dominant force in the district. The Taylors Estate label 2023 Riesling sells at around $20 a bottle but is shooting the lights out – even getting 94 points from James Halliday in his 2025 companion.

But if you’re after something special, the 2024 Taylors St Andrews Riesling will fit the bill. On the nose, gorgeous musk and floral characters emerge before the citrus and lime take charge with the first sip. I love the lemon rind, cumquat and kaffir leaf flavours that evolve and embolden across the palate. But with Riesling, it’s all about the conclusion, and the St Andrews doesn’t disappoint. The lively acids take a line through the finish and drive a zippy epilogue to a storyline of grace, poise and balance.

With summer just around the corner, for those of us in Queensland at least, it’s time to push the reds to the back of the cellar and stock up the fridge with racy whites like a Clare Valley Rizza!

 

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