Reserve Riesling 2023

Dry Grown Reserve Riesling 2023  

REVIEW

Galafrey uses only free run juice here, which heightens its purity and almost pristine characters. There's a regional and varietal spiciness that works with the citrus and lemon peel nuances on the nose. The Palate is fine with a degree of tension balanced with deep Riesling intensity. Has a long racy finish.

94/100 Ray Jordan

TECHNICIAL DETAILS

Alcohol 12.5% 

TASTING NOTES

The Reserve represents the 100% free run juice made from specially selected fruit to enhance the purest best quality wine. Intense lemon and lime, full palate of flavours, with a zesty long crisp acid finish. Marries well with smoked salmon or freshly caught whiting.

VINEYARD

Fruit sourced from our 41 year old 12 hectare Dry Grown Vineyard. Our old vines are not irrigated; something quite unusual in these days of mass commercial production. We prefer low-yielding wine crops with small berries. Although it limits our volume, having smaller fruit fosters an intensity of the flavour, with most of the colour and tannin of the grape being concentrated in or near the skin. The characteristically cool climate of the district ensures slow ripening of the grapes, which also allows for the development of rich flavour and quality grape juice. Grown on ancient gravely loams in Mount Barker, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, an area renowned for excellence in cool climate viticulture. Our old vines are all cane pruned and yield 2 tonne per hectare with small bunch weights which add intensity of character and flavour. Galafrey harvest their grapes from mid March to late April depending on the season.


VINTAGE COMMENTS

After a dry spring we had cool conditions this vintage providing a perplexing vintage of both a dry and cool vintage in one. I have never seen one like it before. After a very dry but mild summer we had cool conditions during vintage. Temperatures were low but so was the rainfall providing both dry and cool conditions for the grapes. Whites look excellent. While reds will be lower in volume, pH and alcohol. 

WINEMAKING

The dry, cool climate of Mount Barker is famous for their Rieslings . The Galafrey 2019 Riesling is yet again a stellar performer, and is a reflection of this unique region. Exhibiting chalk, mineral, lime and passion fruit, this much maligned variety is a stand out, serious wine. We endeavour through meticulous viticulture and wine production sympathetic to the vintage conditions to produce a wine that will express varietal characters in tune with its sense of place Winemaking is geared toward producing a wine that is well balanced, lively, well structured, has great cellaring potential and most importantly drinkable.