The history of Riesling in Australia is a long, proud one, not just in the Clare Valley where its ubiquity surpasses even Shiraz, but in an ever-growing number of regions across the country. Even so, Riesling has battled for relevance over the last few decades.
We can at least partially blame the PR crisis caused by Blue Nun and adjacent sickly-sweet bottlings that flooded the market years ago, forever putting consumers off ‘sweetness’ in a wine. We also had a dreadful habit of mislabelling Riesling in the early years; you might find ‘Hock’ or ‘Moselle’ or ‘Crouchen’, yet rarely would a bottle labelled ‘Riesling’ contain any of the grape at all.
Riesling is a fussy grape that is tricky to ripen at the best of times, and produces searingly high acidity by nature. Achieving full ripeness is essential to softening the austerity of the grape - not unlike coating a live electrical wire in plastic. Thus, the Germans would prize ripeness in their grapes and mark the sweet, more luxurious styles as the most desirable. On the other side of the world, Australia was thought too hot to grow Riesling at all, the long, dry summers stripping the grapes of any nuance or acidity. Hence, we turned the rules on their head and forged an identity surrounding the most bone-dry, high acid Rieslings we could muster.
The style today lands somewhere in the middle; we’ve pumped the brakes on the enamel-stripping tartness and learned ways to manage the heat more effectively. We’ve also seen Riesling spread into varying corners of the country - Margaret River, Henty, King Valley, Adelaide Hills, Canberra District and many, many more. The wines below are a small snapshot of the Riesling available today, including some of the very finest bottlings produced by Riesling lovers across the country.
Frankland Estate
"Frankland Estate has emerged as one of the great vineyards of Australia" Huon Hooke
The winegrowing region of Frankland River is young, even by Australian standards, having been identified in mid-1950s by Harold Olmo. Frankland Estate is younger still, though they're certainly not new kids on the block. Planted in 1988 to mostly the same varieties they harvest today, Frankland Estate elevated the regional standard for Riesling & Shiraz with their exceptional Isolation Ridge wines. Today, the estate remains a standard bearer, as well as leading the charge in support of organic and sustainable viticulture.
Henschke
"Stephen and Prue Henschke have taken a crown jewel and polished it to an even greater brilliance." James Halliday
Henschke is true Australian wine royalty, boasting more than 150 years of winemaking in the Eden Valley. As with many of the greats though, they don't just have the staying power - Henschke has only improved from vintage to vintage. Though best known for their iconic 'Hill of Grace' Shiraz, they also hold parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, Riesling and a smattering of alternative varieties. Their reputation is well-established in Australia as one of our very finest wineries, no better exemplified than Prue Henschke being named the inaugural inductee to the James Halliday Hall of Fame in 2024.
Jim Barry
"Few single-vineyard bottlings have implanted themselves so concretely on the Australian consciousness as Armagh, Florita and Lodge Hill" Jane Lopes & Jonathan Ross, How to Drink Australian
Jim Barry is one of the foundational names behind the success of Clare Valley in Australia's winegrowing indsutry. The man himself, Jim Barry, was the first qualified winemaker in the Clare, graduating with the 17th Degree in Oenology from Roseworthy Agricultural College. Together with his wife Nancy, they founded Jim Barry, the winery, and helped take the Clare Valley into a golden era of Riesling growing. Though sadly Jim and Nancy have both left us, the winery has been left in the capable hands of their children and now, grandchildren.
