Sevenhill Cellars, Tim Adams & O'Leary Walker Riesling

The rizza files 

 

My wife is drinking a lot of Rizza at the moment. In fact she went off to the Clare Valley today for a working week-end. She is filming in the area but I’m sure she will be opening a whole raft of these.  

 

O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling 2014 

 

Really easy winemaking on this wine. Pick grapes tick. De-stem grapes tick. Press grapes tick. Juice chilled tick. Racked off solids tick. Fermented tick. Straight to bottle tick. Really what more could be done to express pure Riesling goodness? This has beautiful line and length with masses of crushed flowers, lime and lemon with tightness on the palate just drawing it all together.  

 

Alcohol: 12% 

Price: $20 but could get it cheaper 

Rated: 88 

Drink: Now – 2025 

 

 

Get your teeth around this one 

 

Tim Adams Riesling 2014 

 

This has more flavour and a great er acid line than the above wine and as a result is a bit better. That said they are both batting way above their weight. This wine has lemons and lime with orange zest and spring blossom. These flavours are perched on an extremely long palate that is just bursting at the seams with acidity. It is more like exploding and I just imagine the Monty Python skit where Mr Creosote is at a restaurant eating himself silly and they offer him an after diner mint and he blows up. I’m not sure how I link Mr Creosote to this wine but my mind is a little warped.  

Alcohol: 11.5% 

Price: $20 

Rated: 90 

Drink; Now - 2027 

 

 

Made in the same way as the above two wines but from a different vintage.  

 

Sevenhill Cellars Inigo Riesling 2013 

 

Nice typical flavours but a little short and narrow. This could be starting to shut down but I don’t think so, nor did it improve over the course of three days.  

 

Alcohol:  

Price: $17 

Rated: 85 

Drin: Now – 2017 

 

Wold Blass, Pewsey Vale and Skillogalee

The rizza files

I’m not sure why Riesling isn’t drunk more often instead of sav blanc or pinot gris as generally the variety offer higher quality at a cheaper price point. 

Wolf Blass Gold Label Riesling 2013

Very flinty and not minty
Tastes like orange without porridge
Very long length without much spent
Love this wine would drink it in time

Alcohol: 11.5%
Price: $17
Rated: 89
Drink: Now – 2024

Skillogalee Riesling 2014
A very different beast to the above wine with the Clare Valley being more full on and in your face. There are interest moment of lime skin, orange rind and spring blossom popping their head out at you. The wine is still fragrant but it seems a little more evolved and easy to drink. 

Alcohol: 12.2%
Price: $20
Rated: 90
Drink: Now – 2019



Pewsey Vale Riesling 2014

I like what this producer is trying to do and that is focus of Riesling from a very renowned area. The grapes for this wine were harvested over a three week period and then allowed to ferment in stainless steel tanks before being blended and bottled. The wine smells and tastes like an A typical Riesling with lemon and lime cascading out of the glass with a bit of smashed quartz and talc powder. All these flavours and length of under 20 you say and I would have to agree with you except that I know it will be better with a year or two in the cellar. 

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price:$16
Rated: 91
Drink: 2016 - 2026

Unico Zelo Rosato 2014

Rose can be so easy to drink and has become more of a winemaker’s pet project. As a rose can be made from any variety it has allowed some creativity to emerge. 

Unico Zelo Rosato 2014

I have written in my notes Grenache and Sangiovese based? Well I had one right but not the other as this is a Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Grenache and Merlot based wine done in a saignee style. The nose is sweet and is dominated by the Grenache notes mixed with a little earthier moment. These confected cherries and creamy flavours are very evident on the palate which feels like more of a light red than a rose. 

Alcohol:13.5%
Price: $24
Rated: 85
Drink: Now

Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2014

The Clare Valley offers so much good drinking especially at a young age. I’m not a fan of ages Australian Riesling at too often a petrol character emerges. I say drink while the sun shines. 

Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2014

This wine balances some more overt characters with the normal edgy elegant flavours and it all sits on long palate length. The wine took a while to evolve with the lemon lime characters coming out before a melon and orange pith element emerges. These flavours are only medium to light bodied and it was easy to suck down the bottle in no time with a spot of thai dinner. 

Alcohol: 13%
Price: $27
Rated: 91
Drink: Now – 2020

Rosa by KT 2014

Rose or Rosado, as it is called in Spain and Portugal, is often very light in colour as this one is. This wine spent 24 hours in contact with the skins. The grapes were allowed to undergo wild fermentation in a mix of stainless steel and old French oak.  I loved the colour of the wine as I thought it would mean that this was a dry style of Rosado. More dry styles should be produced as it makes them easier to drink more of it on a warm summer’s day plus it pairs better with food.

 

Rosa by KT 2014

The wine is a blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Tempranillo with the Grenache taking centre stage at this stage. The flavours of confected strawberries and brown sugar dominate and make this more of a sweet style wine. I’m not a fan of the flavour profile but the texture is rather nice. Nice acidity with a bit of thickness on the mid-palate keeps my interest but I think that there is way too much residual sugar hanging around. I’m not sure why as I think this would have been made in a dry style. Oh well better luck next time.

 

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $22
Rated: 84
Drink: over summer but will go another couple of years

Sevenhill Dr John May Shiraz 2009

Rizza rains supreme in Clare.

Sevenhill Dr John May Shiraz 2009

Massive full bodied wine but I can understand what they tried to achieve. The wine spent two years in bottle before release which means it would have spent two years in 100% new French oak prior to bottling. The winemakers at Sevenhill, I think, were trying to add impact into the wine but what has happened is a full bodied wine that lacks a bit of freshness and lift. The flavours are of currents, blackberry jam, dark chocolate with a little plum mints in the middle that is fully open and ready to go. The wine is nice'n'soft, cuddly and hides its alcohol well. I was left thinking after a glass, where is the spine of the wine. What would the wine have looked like picked a bit earlier? Who will know.

Alcohol: 15.5%
Price: $75
Rated: 85
Drink: Now - 2017

Fiano x 6

Fiano in Australia seems to be doing pretty well. Most of the better examples coming from the warmer areas, except Scott which comes from the Adelaide Hills.

Pikes Wines Luccio Fiano 2014

Really candied fruit profile but in the typical Fiano flavour, just a bit too candied or fairy floss in nature. Think about the flavours in terms of peach and nectarines with an ok mouth feel adding interest. The length is a little short but hopefully will fill out with some time in the bottle.

Alcohol:
Price: $18
Rated: 84
Drink: Now - 2019

Beach Road Wines Fiano 2013

Big end of town with flavours of apple cider and poached peach making its impact felt. The wine lack a bit of freshness but it does have impact. I'm not sure how long it will last but I would recommend drinking it sooner rather than later.

Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $25
Rated: 85
Drink: Now - 2016

 



Scott Wines Fiano 2014

Yes baby this is what I'm talking about with a very good balance between flavour and texture. The flavours come in the form of honey, spice and hay mixed with nectarines and lemon acidity. The Scott wine is a lighter profiled wine with nice texture and liveliness brimming throughout. The texture comes in the form mouth feel and dryness which makes this wine so easy to drink bucket loads of.

Alcohol: 13
Price: $26
Rated: 89
Drink: Now - 2024

 

 

 

 

Savina Lane Wines Fiano Classico 2013

I've never tasted a wine from the Granite belt but I didn't think they could produce a wine like this. It has a great retention of acidity on a palate that is textural and thick but has a liveliness to it. I couldn't fault the palate length and detailed profile.

Alcohol:
Price: $35
Rated: 92
Drink: Now - 2024

 

 

Oliver's Taranga Fiano 2014

 

 

Bursting with richness and firm acidity that just comes balling out of the glass. The textural level is up further on this wine than the rest of the Fiano's so far but it is perfectly balanced by the acidity. The acidity has a flavour of lemon skin and this perfectly offsets the spiciness of the wine. There is some fruit to the wine but I don't really care to mention it because my glass is empty and I'm heading to the fridge for another glass.

 

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $24
Rated: 91
Drink: Now - 2026

 

 

Coriole Vineyards Fiano 2014

 

 

This is very complex with mandarin, warm honey, hay and some stone fruit or fruit salad component. The textural element is bombastic and brilliant which would put this the best textural Fiano on the market. Love it!

 

Alcohol:

Price: $25

Rated: 93

Drink: Now - 2024

 

 

 

 



Annie's Lane Shiraz 2013

This wine is a mainstream cheaper Shiraz that can be bought most places, especially from the larger liquor stores, at often discounted prices. I don't really care what the RRP is, just what can I get it at and what is the quality like?


Annie's Lane Shiraz 2013

The oak for this wine sits firmly in the background but I assume that it sees a fare amount of older oak. Well I hope the winery doesn't use too much new oak as this wine is for drinking and enjoying sooner. That still the wine will happily sit in the cellar for a few years but I would be opening them now. The wine is medium bodied with chocolate moments mixed with cinnamon, spice, plum and a minty edge. These flavours sit on a light and fluffy tannin structure that only just adds to the overall appeal of the wine. For a wine that sits at between 9 to 15 bucks it is very good and much better than the last time I tried the Annie's Lane Shiraz.

Alcohol: 14.5%
Price: $11 (you will have to shop around but just kick it into google and you should be good.)
Rated: 90
Drink: Now - 2017

Knappstein Hand Picked Riesling 2013

Knappstein is not a winery that I drink much of their wine but I do drink a large amount of their beer. The winery is part of the larger Lion Nathan stable with much of the grapes from the mature vineyards making their way to Petaluma.

Knappstein Hand Picked Riesling 2013

This is rather special with the core of the wine the wonderful acid line running from the initial hit to the far reaches of my tongue. If the wine was a cricketer it would be a world class fast bowler as it delivers great line and length. The flavours don't really matter but they are fresh and floral with a lovely violet note before lemon grass and orange zest kick in. These flavours take a while to come out so I would recommend leaving it in the cellar for a bit.

Alc: 12.5%
Price: RRP $20 but a quick google search put the wine at $13
Rated: 93
Drink: 2015 - 2025