February 2018
When /
Monday, 12th February 2018
Where /
The first event of the year on the East End Cellars calendar is dedicated to their beloved Riesling! Following the Riesling Downunder program in Melbourne and Sydney, some of the biggest names in planet Riesling will hit Adelaide for this public tasting. You’ll see the likes of Germany’s Dr Loosen and Egon Müller Austria’s Bründlmayer & Salomon Undhof, France’s Hugel as well as a host of top tier Australian producers such as Riesling Downunder founder Frankland Estate plus co-sponsors Pikes, Jim Barry, clos Clare, Rieslingfreak and Framingham.
Date: Monday February 12th
Location: The Baily Room @ East End Cellars
Price: $45 per ticket
Click here for tickets
Frankland Estate – Poured by Hunter Smith
“Visits to Great Southern and time spent with winemakers Hunter Smith and Brian Kent and viticulturist Elizabeth Smith have cemented my opinion Frankland Estate is one of Australia’s greatest wine producers with a thirst for excellence.” Mike Bennie, Gourmet Traveller WINE
2017 Frankland Estate Riesling RRP $29
For an estate-wide expression, 2017 Frankland Estate Riesling offers quality and value hand-in-hand. It’s a limey, bright Riesling of zingy acidity and crunchy texture. The perfume is voluminous in Thai spice, mixed citrus character and dried apple scents. The palate is bracing with its citrus tang, but finishes with a pool of gently sweet, mouth-filling fruitiness. It’s one of those summery whites that is best suited to a deep chill and consumed while your legs are dangling in a swimming pool. Mike Bennie, Gourmet Traveller WINE
2016 Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Riesling RRP $43
All the hallmarks of this site are at play with camomile and blossom, the lightness of touch on the palate with its citrus notes, some concentration and texture yet the steely freshness and acidity so pure it creates an ultra-fine and long finish. 96 points. Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion 2018
2016 Frankland Estate Poison Hill Riesling RRP $43
Captivating and powerful from the word go starting with its lime and grapefruit flavours, wet rocks before it moves onto a mineral sensation with chalky acidity. Everything balanced with laser-precision accuracy and a joy to behold. 96 points. Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion 2018
clos Clare – poured by Sam Barry
“It is all about excitement – from the tender yet racy nose to the pellucid, glassy palate and beyond to a breakneck, high-drama finish.” Matthew Jukes
2011 clos Clare Riesling RRP $39
Bath salt, blossom and lemon candy aromatics with cool lemon juice and mandarin fruit, freshness and flinty mineral edges, along with zesty acidity and touches of spice. It’s a lighter, more delicate style that you might call dilute, though I prefer to call it ‘transparent’. Clean tight lemony finish, and while it’s not unapproachable as young wine, it should improve and flesh out with some bottle age. 94 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front August 2011
2016 clos Clare Riesling RRP $32
Almost cumin spiced top note over lemon barley, lime and lillies. Intense acidity and burst of lemon/lime flavour, firm chalky texture, a sort of lavender perfume wafting in the finish, but it’s mouth-watering in the main, and quite powerful. Good wine this vintage, though I’d say it needs a couple of years to soften. 94 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Dr Loosen – Poured by Ernst Loosen
“The Estate crafted a beautiful collection of classic Mosel wines, which show ripe acidity, great aromatics and shine, as usual, through great drinking playfulness.” Jean Fisch & David Rayer, Mosel Fine Wines
2016 Dr Loosen ‘Dr L’ Dry RRP $25
Very fruity and charming. Leaps out at you and has such a playful personality. Drink now or any time into 2020. 90 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com June 2017
2016 Dr Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett RRP $40
Super-bright and crisp with beautiful balance. Just off-dry with a great, lemon-herbal finish. Better from 2018, but then at least a decade ahead of it. 91-92 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com June 2017
2016 Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Grosses Gewächs RRP $74
Still rather closed on the nose this has both seductive peachy fruit and graceful acidity on the palate. A seamless harmony and the finish is long and refined! Better from 2018 through 2035. 94 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com September 2017
2016 Dr Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese – 375ml RRP $64
Another astonishing 2016 auslese from Dr. Loosen with a great interplay of concentrated fruit and spice. A very fresh, lemony acidity that gives the finish a big kick. Drink from 2020 to 2060. 95-96 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com June 2017
Bründlmayer – Poured by Vincent Bründlmayer
“These [wines] are characterised by the clear and straight fruit, purity and vitality as well as the good structure and grip that is the outstanding feature of all the wines of this family domaine in Langenlois/Kamptal.” Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2016 Bründlmayer Riesling Kamptal Terrassen RRP $43
This properly dry riesling is so juicy and attractive. Plenty of depth, but tastes almost weightless. A wealth of white fruits, lemon zest and lemon blossom character, but also a hint of smoke. Drink now. 92 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
2008 Bründlmayer Riesling Heiligenstein Lyra RRP $110
Medium green-yellow. Inviting bouquet of peach, greengage plum, honey and dried apricot over a subtle background of smoky flint. Intense and concentrated peach and pineapple are wrapped in a transparent veil of sweetness and elegantly suspended by a firm acid spine. Finishes with lingering hints of papaya and pineapple. Drink 2011 to 2023. 94 points. Peter Moser, Vinous Media November 2009
2016 Bründlmayer Riesling Heiligenstein Lyra RRP $110
The fruitiest of Bründlmayer’s 2016 single-vineyard dry Rieslings with a slew of perfectly ripe peach. However, this is still a properly dry wine and it has a very serious structure. The finish is long, intense and bold, but with a wealth of refreshing minerality. Drink now and for many years to come. 96 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
CellarHand RDU Super Selection
2016 Heymann-Löwenstein Schieferterrassen Riesling RRP $58
Ripe pear and white peach deliver a delightful combination of ripeness and primary juiciness, and the midpalate impression is a flattering combination of stuffing and creaminess. Regionally typical suggestions of tarragon and anise cool a lingering finish that gains welcome invigoration by way of lime zest piquancy. Given this wine’s low acidity, the overall effect is quite sumptuous, and a faint but entirely supportive hint of sweetness is engendered by close to seven grams of residual sugar. Fortunately, there is animating freshness, and I was amazed to discover that there is nearly 13% alcohol here, as there is no heaviness. 89 points. David Schildknecht, Vinous Media January 2018
2016 Georg Breuer Rüdesheim Riesling RRP $39
The 2016 Rheingau Riesling Rüdesheim “Estate” is super clear, bright and elegant on the nose, with lovely stony-mineral notes, almost stone dust but also beautiful concentration. On the palate, this is a round, juicy, very fruity but clear, piquant, well-structured and finely mineral Rheingau classic at 11.5% alcohol. It drinks perfectly today and will also do so over the next 15 to 20 years. Sweetness and acidity are in perfect balance here (8.4 grams per litre). A highly filigreed and delicate Riesling. 91 points. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate December 2017
2016 A. Christmann Estate Riesling RRP $39
This has a great balance between ripe fruit (you find a bit of all the citrus fruits in here), crisp acidity and a pronounced mineral character along the long, clean finish. Drink now or in 2018 and 2019. Screw cap closure. 91 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com December 2017
2016 Dönnhoff Tonschiefer Riesling RRP $52
A finely-nuanced medium-bodied dry riesling with plenty of floral delicacy, but also a firm mineral backbone and a long filigree finish. Drink or hold. Made from organic grapes and Fair’n Green certified. From the excellent Leistenberg site. Screw cap. 92 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com November 2017
2016 Wittmann Estate Riesling RRP $39
If somebody presented this to me as a village wine from a top producer then I’d believe them, because this has a ton of herbal and chalky character at the long finish and is one third of the total Wittmann production! Drink now. 93 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com September 2017
2016 Gunderloch Als Wär’s Ein Stück Von Mir RRP $39
The dry 2016 Riesling “Als Wär’s Ein Stück Von Mir” (or “A Piece Of Me” in many English-speaking markets) is from the Hipping, from younger vines in the Rothenberg. Fermented in stainless steel and bottled with six grams of residual sugar, this dry Riesling (produced in 2012 for the first time to introduce the new and personal style of Johannes Hasselbach) opens with an aromatic bouquet of bright tropical fruits. It is a round and juicy but light and finessed Riesling with a delicate mineral background and nice grip on the palate. The 2016 is quite powerful with its 12.5% alcohol plus the unfermented sugar. 87 points. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate November 2017