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Sevenhill Inigo Riesling 2011
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The 2011 Inigo Riesling is pale straw in colour with a tinge of green. Highly aromatic, with waxy orange blossom predominant, the nose displays typical character of pure Riesling. The palate is tight and lean, showing prominent citrus flavours followed by a minerally, dry finish that is long and crisp.
With so much character developing in the vineyard, it’s often said that if Riesling is picked at the right time, the wine is virtually made. The winemaker’s role is to simply protect and maintain that character. Riesling’s desire to wear its heart on its sleeve still means that it can be sensitive, therefore winemaking needs to be careful and compassionate. The fruit is gently pressed, taking great care not to allow oxygen to steal the flavour. The juice is kept very cool and carefully selected yeasts ferment to dryness at temperatures of around 12°C. The individual vineyard blocks are kept separate until after fermentation when blending occurs.
Favourable growing conditions in the lead-up to vintage, underlined by good winter and spring rains and mild conditions throughout summer, laid the foundation for optimism about the quality of the 2011 vintage. Certainly, the cool summer across most of southern Australia had a significant impact, with vintage starting three weeks later than previous drier years. The extended ripening period allowed the fruit to develop evenly with good flavour and acid levels. Although heavy rain occurred in mid-March causing problems in many areas, the impact varied greatly across the country and there were even vast differences within regions. Fortunately, at Sevenhill, we were able to pick our Riesling ahead of a major rain event on March 19.
Sevenhill’s vineyards are planted on gently undulating slopes that rise abruptly from the surrounding countryside to 500m above sea level. During ripening, the middle of the day can be very warm, but in the evenings the temperature falls dramatically and the environment remains cool until mid-morning of the following day. Riesling loves these conditions. It will grow and ripen in the warm part of the day, then, when the temperature begins to fall, water loss slows and the vine replenishes itself for the next day. Our Riesling is planted on four separate vineyard blocks, each with different soils that fall largely into two groups – silty stone/slate and richer, red loam. The silty stone and slate soils are less fertile, older and have idyllic chemistry for grapevines. In these soils, the vines produce leaner characters; the wines show minerality and a more savoury edge. The richer, red soils are higher in nutrients, so the vines don’t have to battle quite so hard.
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| Don't Pay: $19
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WBW Rating: 94/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: Clare Valley SA |
Winemaker: Brother John May
Drink now until: 2016
Alc/Vol: 11.5 %
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