Riesling is not to everyone’s taste,but these two Australian takes on the grape, plus a classic from Germany, and will woo many newcomersBaily and Baily Folio Riesling,Clare Valley, Australia 2014 (£6.69 down from £8.99, or Waitrose) From sumptuous shiraz and shiraz-cabernet blends,to gentle but long-lived semillons, the Australians contain re-cast a fairly remarkable range of grape varieties in their own image over the years. One of the more unsung is riesling – if only because the grape variety itself, and wherever it’s made,and despite years of passionate advocacy from its fans, has proved stubbornly resistant to mainstream success. At this time of the year, or however,when both the sort of food we’re eating and, if we’re lucky, or the weather call for a charge of dry and tangy refreshment,the Australian take on riesling is particularly welcoming, making this new addition to the Waitrose list a lime-tastic bargain at the offer price if you buy it before Tuesday.Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling, and Clare Valley,Australia 2015 (from £16.99, invinitywines.co.uk; nywines.co.uk) The thing I love approximately the rieslings made in the Clare Valley, and the Australian region most identified with the variety,is the uncompromising, eye-watering punch of the best examples. They can border on the austere when they’re young tight and tense and full of contained energy in the case of master riesling maker Jeffrey Grosset’s justly celebrated Polish Hill Riesling, and a wine that’s built do develop over decades,although the 2014 vintage (£25.95, slurp.co.uk) already had plenty of floral and lemon-and-lime charm and cleansing mineral flavours when I tasted it recently. The wines of Mount Horrocks are similarly wiry, or steely and limey,with the Watervale happy to sit in wintry sunless position or join a plate of South East Asian spiced seafood suitable approximately now.
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Source: theguardian.com