2021 Eden Hall Reserve Riesling

It’s a funny world when nearly thirty-year-old vines are considered young. Yet Eden Hall was first planted back in 1997, which is youthful for a region where vineyards are routinely 120 years old. Over the last three decades, this 33-hectare plot has quietly carved out a distinction for not just high-quality fruit, but also best-practice sustainability - to the point where it was crowned as the Young Gun of Wine Trophy for 2021 Vineyard of the Year.

What does that actually mean? Well, as the saying goes, wine is made in the vineyard, and this is one fascinating site. You only need to glance at the vineyard mid rows tells a story, with a diverse mix of 20 species of native perennial grasses and forbes established to provide a drought-tolerant and resilient approach to viticulture.

Totally off-grid, powered by solar and only on site water, it’s hard not to admire the Eden Hall way. Whether it’s the organic compost teas spread through the vines, the livestock used to control weeds instead of herbicide, or the thousands of native plants planted around the vineyard for biodiversity, this is sustainable viticulture to the nth degree.

You can taste the uncompromising vineyard approach in this 2021 Riesling. It’s longer, tenser, and more flavour-packed. It feels special, different, and more intense. Crafted by Barossan winemaking star Phil Lehmann this Reserve Riesling feels, even now, almost two years post-harvest, taut and reserved, save for some welcome ripe fruit through the mid-palate.