With its fresh, intense lemon tonic, pear, apple, oyster shell aromas, superb lemon curd richness, persistence and minerality, Crawford River Riesling reflects the modern idiom of the Riesling style. The dry-grown vines, first planted in 1975 by John Thomson, are deeply anchored in gravelly friable basalt loams over clays and an ancient limestone seabed.
Second generation winemaker Belinda Thomson, with her father John Thomson, continues the philosophy of minimal intervention and movement during vinification. The cold-settled juice is batch fermented around 12° - 15° C and left on lees for around six weeks before bottling in September.
"From the '75-'77 planting, crushed and whole-bunch pressed, cool-fermented with cultured and wild yeast, 3 months on gross lees. The bouquet is a butterfly, moving from flower to flower so quickly it's hard to keep up with the citrus blossom, rose petal and wild flower only part of the story. The palate crystallises the citrus component with nerve-tingling acidity."
95 points, Wine Companion (January 2019)
"Gently waxy with fresh apple and lime aromas, as well as wet stones and flowers. The palate has great intensity and focus with a rich, juicy and quite textural build to the finish."
93 points, jamessuckling.com (June 2019)
Henty
Situated 300 km west of Melbourne in Southwestern Victoria, Henty was named after the first family to settle in Victoria in the 1800’s. The region was pioneered in 1964 by Karl Seppelt, who recognized that the cool climate was ideal for the production of sparkling and aromatic wines. The Seppelts planted 100 hectares at Drumborg in 1964 and this was followed by Crawford River in 1975. The long, gentle autumn ripening period allows the retention of both acid and aromatics crucial for Henty’s flagship variety, Riesling.
