Minimal intervention mastery
Riesling is universally regarded as one of the world’s classic grape varieties and is believed to truly reflect its provenance. Riesling is the wine that winemakers love to drink.
Renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson calls it one of her ‘great wine heroes’ and says, ‘This is the wine to drink while writing or reading; it refreshes the palate and sharpens the brain.’
Riesling has a long history in Australia. It likely arrived with the First Fleet and was one of the original grape varieties planted. The first recorded plantings were in 1838 near Penrith, New South Wales.
Australia is second only to Germany in terms of total plantings of Riesling. It is grown in many areas across the country, although certain regions are particularly known for this variety, such as Clare Valley and Eden Valley, which together account for one-third of all Australian Riesling production.
Riesling Variety Snapshot 2023-24
Variety snapshots are one-page profiles of individual Australian winegrape varieties and provide at-a-glance summary statistics on: viticulture data, winegrape production, winegrape price, key producing regions and export sales data compared against the same statistics for all wine grape varieties.
Download nowIn the vineyard
Riesling is a low to moderate vigour variety but is quite fruitful. Crop loads must be in balance to achieve optimum ripeness. The Pewsey and McWilliams clones are thought to be from the original vine material that came into Australia from Europe in the early 1800s.
Riesling buds up to a week later than Chardonnay, Semillon and
Sauvignon Blanc and is often one of the last of the white varieties to be harvested.
In the winery
- High quality Riesling is about purity of fruit expression and as such, vinification techniques remain relatively straight forward
- The tradition has been to ferment Riesling to complete dryness
- Cool, temperature controlled fermentations in stainless steel are common
- Off-dry and sweeter wines are emerging
- Winemakers are also experimenting with natural techniques such as extended skin contact and further ageing on lees as a way of building texture and weight
- Use of new oak for maturation is not common
- Most Rieslings are bottled early to capture the typically vibrant fruit character
- It is rare to find any Riesling produced in Australia that is not bottled under Stelvin (screwcap)
- Screwcap seals are a factor in capturing the purity of Riesling’s inherent character
Major regional expressions
Clare Valley
- Clare Valley has established itself as the premier region for Riesling in Australia
- The slate and limestone soils combined with cool nights produce a very distinctive style
- Light-bodied with vibrant fruit and acidity and classic lime flavours
- Drinkable when young but have the capacity to age for decades
Eden Valley
- Eden Valley is part of the Barossa Zone but sits at higher altitudes
- Riesling is the region’s most important white grape variety
- Thrives in the cool, higher altitude vineyard sites
- The style is similar to Clare Valley but with a distinct mineral edge
- Typically light-bodied, lemon/lime character with a steely finish
In the glass
Style and character
Pairs with
Fresh oysters, goat’s cheese, salads and lighter fish dishes.