Leo Buring did a smart thing when it moved into Tasmania around a decade ago, with its top-notch Leopold label from the cool climate Tamar Valley in the island’s north which is stunningly rewarding for Riesling buffs.
After evaluating the potential for Riesling in Tasmania and setting itself a goal “to make the best Riesling in Australia,” it planted grapes in the Tamar Valley, Upper Derwent and Southern Coast, with each area contributing its own particularly unique characteristics to the style of the wine.
For Buring’s just-released 2014 Leopold DW R20 Riesling it used fruit purely from one vineyard, its White Hills in the Tamar Valley around 20km south-east of Launceston. The use of the fruit from the highest, coolest section of White Hills has resulted is a wine that’s all about brilliant fruit flavour intensity – with predominantly zesty citrus to the fore – and a beautiful back-up of palate-pleasing acidity.
A rewarding drop to match with seafood or roast pork and apple sauce, it’s certainly well worth the $40 recommended price.
Watch this one: Western Australia’s Margaret River got a good dose of rain for the 2013 grape growing season just before the hottest-ever and wetter than average summer, which allowed fruit to ripen gradually for excellent flavour and with smooth, ripe tannins.
Winemaker at Devil’s Lair, Ben Miller used all this to a great advantage with the company’s label: The Hidden Cave Cabernet Shiraz 2013. A wine with lovely aromas and moreish blackberry and blueberry fruits on the palate, nice spicy characters and refined tannins.
At $23 this is foremost a beef or lamb barbecue wine, but one that’ll go equally enjoyably with a good cheese platter in the late afternoon.
