96 POINTS
Tom Kline - Winepilot
This wine is released with 5 years bottle age as an homage to Andrew Wigan’s passion for white wines. Therefore, there’s some pressure to perform and this wine does so in spades. A vivid pale gold colour belies its age. Ripe makrut lime zest, lime juice, green apple skin and lifted jasmine at the fore with remarkable purity and freshness given its 7 years. Some savoury toastiness emerges with a swirl of the glass, along with pastry dough, honeysuckle, preserved lemon and the faintest suggestion of kerosene. The palate is fresh, fleshy and buoyant with a creamy texture. Restrained lemon and lime notes make way for subtle honey and glimmers of toast in the back palate before waves of clean acid cut the cream and bring long, gentle-but-significant length. I had to re-check the label given this wine’s youthfulness. Yes, 2017! There’s a great balance of texture, freshness, bright fruit and savouriness to this wine. It’s balanced, elegant and long with a significant journey ahead for those who can wait.
96 POINTS
Shanteh Wale - Winepilot
Named after Andrew Wigan’s talent with white wines the 2017 is released after 5 years bottle age. Lemon myrtle, calamansi lime skin and star jasmine blooms. Grapefruit flesh, cut honeydew and Granny smith apple curls. A self raising flour plume with a touch of almond skin. Acidity flows naturally and a hessian-like weave of skin phenolics add further dimension to the palate. This is still tightly coiled but beginning to show how time will unfurl the delicate Eden valley flavours. A classic and yet modern interpretation of Eden Riesling. This is a crunchy, citrus driven wine now and will only continue to get better with age. Think along the lines of another decade or so. Serve with a sliced fennel salad with peeled prawns.
A benchmark Eden Valley riesling whose faintly oily aromas of lime, lemon tart, musky spices and white Turkish delight reveal suggestions of minerals and a whiff of smokiness. It's long, sumptuously fruited and mouthfilling, with a superb core of citrus and apple skin fruit that extends down a gentle slate/mineral/bathpowder spine towards a fresh, faintly saline finish of refreshing acids and a lingering smoky mineral note. Great persistence and balance; set for the long term.
96 POINTS
Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion
Another Peter Lehmann wine we can safely store in the 'regional classic' section of our noggins. Pale straw with notes of Bickford's lime cordial, citrus blossom, marzipan, pressed flowers, ozone, crushed stone, dried grass and fennel gratin. Complex, savoury and long of finish with a crystalline seam of acidity providing cadence and cut. It possesses a real shimmering quality and a harmony of flavour across its entire length. It's special drinking.
95 POINTS
Ray Jordan - Winepilot
Does the heart good to tuck into an older Riesling like this. It’s really only started its journey into that glorious mature zone, but there’s enough indication that this is just going to be a joy. Lightly toasty with traces of marmalade and citrus. A little honey is nudging in with that suggestion of subtle development. Has a dry finish which is exceptionally long. Super wine.
93 POINTS
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front
This too is part of Lehmann’s “The Master’s Collection”.
This has matured nicely, and is in a perfect spot for drinking right now. Complex earth, wax, lime, musk and pastry characters billow through the palate and roll satisfyingly out through the finish. It still feels fresh and energetic but it’s developed a lovely textural plushness. Like.
93 POINTS
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front
This has matured nicely, and is in a perfect spot for drinking right now. Complex earth, wax, lime, musk and pastry characters billow through the palate and roll satisfyingly out through the finish. It still feels fresh and energetic but it’s developed a lovely textural plushness. Like.