Best’s Foudre Ferment Riesling 2022

If you have never considered the Grampians as a producer of fine Riesling, may I present Exhibit A. Best’s Foudre Ferment was born in the shadows. Former winemaker, Adam Wadewitz, bought an expensive 2500L oak foudre on the quiet. His replacement, Justin Purser, decided to prepare the vat for Chardonnay by running a Riesling through it, and the rest is history, as they say. The resulting Foudre Ferment riesling – with extended skin contact, wild fermentation and oak maturation on lees – offered a stunning interpretation of the grape. With the 2022 vintage, the follow up to the marvellously complex 2021, we see another example of a wine at the top of its game for both the maker and the variety. Two great vintages in a row. Lime juice, preserved lemon, pink grapefruit, Thai basil, rosemary, honeysuckle, ginger – the ’22 is astonishingly complex in aromas and flavours. You have to admire the juxtaposition of the utter brightness of the fruit, tingly and snappy, to the wine’s honeyed smoothness and texture. It is a great flavour sensation, fresh, alive, honeyed and mellow (especially across the middle palate) at the same time, finishing with a rousing fruit tingle brightness. Any way you put it, it’s another brilliant Riesling.