There's something about Riesling

Bloodwood in winter

This great grape of Germany and Alsace produces the finest of all white wines. That’s a bold statement in these days where the latest fashion in wine styles is the highest contemporary currency in the wine business. Still, Bloodwood belongs in the Wine Trade, and while we do, we will continue to assert that Riesling does it for us. That’s not to imply that a contemporary Chardonnay which has not been shamed into hiding its fruit isn’t a glorious accompaniment to roast chicken, or that a fresh young stainless-steel fermented Hunter Semillon matched to sashimi or salt and pepper squid shouldn’t be celebrated across an Australian summer. It’s just that no grape variety reflects its environment as faithfully as Riesling and ages with quiet grace over many years. The brightness in its natural acidity and quality of its fruit when grown in its traditionally cool continental northern European environment ensures a vibrancy and nerviness regardless of its residual sugar level. As it ages, the bouquet changes from floral citrus to honey straw and even spice. A Riesling on the dry end of the spectrum is a wonderful partner to all seafood and many simple Asian flavoured dishes while late harvest versions will satisfy many more classic matches such as soft mature cheeses and foie gras.

We are indeed fortunate at Bloodwood that, unlike every other cool climate area in Australia and New Zealand, we have a continental climate. The diurnal variation in temperatures across even the warmest months ensures that our nights are reliably cool. This protects the natural acidity of the fruit and helps ensure balance to the must in the winery. Generally speaking, a tartaric acid sales person would be on thin returns at Bloodwood winery during vintage. For the thirty-eight years of its existence, Stephen has personally pruned the Bloodwood Riesling vineyard helping maintain individual balance in each vine. Riesling is particularly susceptible to over-cropping , so it is crucial in such a marginal climate as Bloodwood to keep yields under control. Our vineyard is trained to a Scott-Henry trellising system to allow good coverage of our organic spray programme and we hand pick our fruit on pH. That’s to say, that regardless of sweetness in the fruit, once the pH reaches 3.00, it is time to call in the picking team. The whole bunch fruit is then pressed to around 1 atmosphere and transferred to tank for fermentation. Details can be found on our web site, but the overall philosophy is to gently release the juice, allow it to ferment to natural dryness, give the new wine contact with its fine lees for six months or so to build the mid-palate, sterile filter and hold in bottle for eighteen months before release and then shuck your oysters.

Our Rieslings have always hit their mark and many of them age beautifully over decades. If you are fortunate enough to have a bottle of 2002 in your cellar, see how clever you have been. If you haven’t, get a case of this newly released 2017 and check it out in 2032 and see exactly what we are talking about.