Castle Rock Estate A&W Riesling 2022

Anyone who is not paying close attention to what Rob Diletti is doing at Castle Rock, and elsewhere, especially with his Rieslings, is simply not serious about great Aussie wine. The ‘A&W’ selections are a tribute to Rob’s mum and dad, Angelo and Wendy, who founded the estate at Porongurup in the West. This wine is whole bunch pressed, fermented with some solids and then spends six months on lees. Near trout stream clear in colour, there is a minerally, chalky note to open proceedings with spices, grapefruit notes, lemongrass, a hint of ginger and wet slate that it well focused with line and length. There is juicy, slightly mouth puckering acidity, serious length plus immaculate balance too. A wonderful Riesling with ten to fifteen years development ahead of it, though anyone prepared to put some away for even longer will surely be rewarded. To be honest, this score seems rather miserly and I have only given it as I do not want to paint myself into the proverbial corner. I have no doubt that with time, it will go higher.