One of the nicest wine moments I had recently was tasting a bottle of
2004 Eden Valley Riesling from a producer called Poverty Hill. My boss opened this bottle which had been submitted to us as a sample to look at, we had just finshed a busy day at work (London independent wine store) and the wine was presented to us blind.First sniff and I was excited, it was something I hadn't been close to for more than a year. Since moving to London from South Australia 8 months ago I have only just started to spend money on drinking Australian wines, as all the excitement for me was the availability of great Italian, French and Spanish wines in the market here which cannot be accessed in Australia.
Anyway the aroma of the Eden Valley Riesling was so bright and distinct, I could tell soon after evaluating it that it was Eden Valley as opposed to Clare by the distinct lime/appley and greener kind of flavours and aromas. Despite it's youth it had started to develop and was at a great stage where there was just a hint of kerosene and honey underneath still fresh fruitiness.
One of the problems I sometimes find with Aussie Riesling particularly from Clare is that they are all so similar, there are such small differences between the large number that are produced there. The other thing that sometimes puts me off is that most aged Riesling from Australia, and by aged that might only mean older than 1 year, it quickly descends into 'generic aged riesling' character. One dimensional kerosene and honey with no individuality.
So I was so pleased to have rediscovered Eden Valley and a few days later was hankering for another go and bought the '04 Mesh Riesling, great stuff as well.
Riesling - top stuff, an excellent variety that doesn't have enough supporters in the UK.
What do other people think of it?