Castelli Estate Porongurup Riesling 2018

A Museum Release dressed in a traditional German green Riesling bottle – very striking – and that’s not the only thing the wine has in common with German Riesling. Arrives with the kind of clean, mineral, slatey tang and degree of spiciness which does strike a chord, although this is not German. This is a wonderful aged Riesling from an excellent vintage in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Beautiful, intriguing scent in jasmine, acacia, spring blossom, apple, citrus notes and, yes, spice. The spiciness is the thing! It’s a real feature of the wine, still youthful and fresh, although bottle age is slowly beginning to make itself felt and tasted. A creamy texture adds to the allure. Dry to finish.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic