The ‘always’ quality of the 2024 Pewsey Vale Riesling, a better Mesh + more

Last week, it was the gold medal-winning Aldi Riesling uber-bargain. This week, another absolute stalwart of the Riesling firmament in seriously good form.

It’s a good time to be drinking Riesling. Maybe not a golden era, but consistently, this is a grape that can deliver deliciousness, interest, delicacy, intensity, the whole rainbow of positive descriptors more often.

So, in evidence, here are a few hits and winners of the Clare & Eden Valley Riesling variety pulled out of the giant Australian Wine and Drinks Review tasting pile (the piles of wine boxes are now large enough to be counted as furniture). I’ve looped in a few aromatic and textural whites of interest too.

Let’s dive in:

Riesling

Mesh Classic Release Riesling 2017

I’ve been critical of some of the recent vintage of this ‘Classic Release’ Mesh Eden Valley Riesling as being a bit meh. This is much better. It’s toasty, with bottle age lending some richness (and a hint of mothballs) as an initial flourish. It’s not too much, though, and underneath the limey palate really runs on and on. You could even call it juicy. Taut, refreshing, the whole gamut – a better balanced release. The sort of wine that smells interesting and tastes refreshing. Good stuff.

Best drinking: good now, zero hurry. 18/20, 93/100. 12.5%, $40. Would I buy it? Worth a bottle.

Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling 2024

You want an ad for the unheralded Riesling glory? Pewsey is it. Widely available, often selling for under $20 (I found it in retail land for $19.99 right away), and unswervingly good quality. A particularly steely, green-fruited wine this year with unripe limes and rocky acidity. Maybe you could count that as a neg on the drinkability (and slightly robbed it of a gold medal score), but I admire the length and drive of it – it’s uncompromisingly intense. A lime and acid-shaped Eden Valley wine that is immediately crisply refreshing and has the stamina to live for two decades. Oh and do you like the lifestyle shot? I can’t find my usual bottleshot photo, so I pulled this from Pewsey’s site. Just when you think my subpar bottle photography had been upgraded! Anyway, this is another bargain Riesling (especially for sub $20).

Best drinking: good now or come back in five to seven years for round two. 18/20, 93/100. 11.5%, $25. Would I buy it? In a flash.

Pikes Olga Emmie Riesling 2024

Medium sweet Clare Valley Riesling that actually works. That’s an achievement in itself, because sweetness is unnecessary in a region of heroic dry Riesling. I’ve had this white twice now, and have decided it’s a playful wine – it’s juicy, with a bit of dried apricot and fresh blossoms. Sure, it’s deadly serious intentions in a style, but don’t tell anyone that it’s really affable. Juicy and entirely drinkable, rather than just sweet, with sweet and sour lemon juice and fullness. I wouldn’t drink it over the dry Pikes Riesling wines (especially the super Merle), but I dip my lid at how well handled this is (as the score reflects).

Best drinking: good now. 18/20, 93/100. 8.5%, $28. Would I buy it? A glass.

Peter Lehmann Wigan Riesling 2018

Covered in gold medals. Festooned. A really overt and extravagant nose too – lots of lemon toast and a decent dash of TDN (sidebar – this is a good read on TDN). Really outsized nose that, which explains why it wins so much silverware. I find that toastiness a bit distracting – it’s everywhere. Great concentration underneath, though. Plenty of admiration for that wham bam nose and limey lemony tang, though I’m not 1000% sold on whether it would be more drinkable with less.

Best drinking: now as I just don’t know if the nose will take over. 17.7/20, 92/100. 11%, $50. Would I buy it? 2 glasses. One to drink, another to really decide again whether it will get better.

Not Riesling

Curly Flat Pinot Gris 2024

A bit of a quiet achiever in the Curly Flat range. Some flesh this year too. Brown pear and leesy custard apple here. with a generous palate but tautly constrained by acidity. You kinda want this to hang about a bit more as it seems a bit cut off – a year in bottle might help. Nice pure pear fruit though, and that’s important – it’s a classy Macedon Ranges Pinot Gris.

Best drinking: from next year. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.5%, $32. Would I buy it? A glass or two.

Hungerford Hill Classic Fiano 2024

Bryan Currie reminded me just the other day how many wine show medals this has. It deserves the love too. The only question is whether this Hilltops wine is better than his (also good) Dalwood Estate Fiano. Crisp, buzzy, varietal, fresh it’s every bit the modern Fiano attractive wine. Maybe a bit straightforward, but that’s also the appeal – it’s full of pear Fiano character, with some nice honeysuckle varietal notes and a refreshing but not hard finish. Smart wine, well priced and full of drinkable appeal.

Best drinking: now. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13%, $30. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses.

Parish Vineyards Pinot Gris 2024

Flying a Tassie flag in this lineup, with grapes sourced from a vineyard at Evandale outside Launceston. Perfectly fruit is the driving force here, with a brown pear fruit flourish, which is really impressive at such low alcohol. That texture is most important – it’s still a leanish wine in many ways, yet you still feel that this has a proper varietal stamp and intensity. Clever.

Best drinking: now. 17.7/20, 92/100. 11.5%, $35. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses.

Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2024

The premium release Sauvignon Blanc for Xaiver Bizot & Lucy Croser’s Terre à Terre label and very much a take on a Bordeaux Blanc rather than some gooseberry-laden Savvy B thing. Less oak in this release too, with 57% matured in barrel and the rest in stainless for ferment and a few months post-ferment. On first glance, it would be easy to mistake this for something not Sauv – a little passionfruit and cream, but otherwise lean and taut, layered white wine. The passionfruit and stonefruit creep in on the palate, but again, Bordeaux Blanc is the aim, and this fits. Clean, taut, built for the future, with creamy hints and intense lemon citrus fruit. It has the lines, now it just needs a little patience.

Best drinking: from next year. 17.7/20, 92/100+. 13.5%, $35. Would I buy it? A glass now, more when it settles.