Henschke Julius Riesling 2023

Not the easiest of Eden Valley vintages, 2023 was the kind of harvest that sets the experienced and astute wine producer apart. Rain at vintage is rarely a good thing but the arresting purity of Julius 2023 Riesling shows it was unaffected. Indeed, it remains lifted, fragrant, seamless, bright, intense and taut. In other words, it is up to the usual Julius high standard. Concentrated spring flower and wild floral scents envelop the senses with bright grapefruit, lemon, lime and an exotic sprinkle of Thai basil and green papaya. Bright, firm acidity nearly steals the show on the palate as it brings together a solid purity of Eden Valley fruit expression in bergamot, ginger and herbals against intense lime and citrus. Grabs your tastebuds and takes them for a superb Riesling ride, but the best is surely yet to come. This Riesling sings out for further time in bottle.

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