Hentley Farm Off Dry Riesling 2021

Another of the trio of wines from the Mount Crawford vineyard, this is Hentley Farm’s Off Dry riesling, with alcohol at 9% as opposed to the other aromatic whites at 11%, meaning that you can drink more of it! I love this style of wine, it’s perfect as a chilled after-work reward and it’s also supremely matched to our pan-Asian food culture of fresh aromatic herbs, lime, ginger and chilli dishes. 

Off-dry riesling can often get a bad rap from consumers worried about sweetness levels but this wine, with its nose of fresh cut lime, makrut lime leaf and mineral notes, and palate of lemon sherbet fruitiness and fresh acidity to balance it all together will surely convince the naysayers to take the plunge. This wine is juicy and giving; it’s generous, pure and fresh and a lovely way to celebrate the sunshine.

I would go all-out with this and commit to a Thai som tum salad: green papaya, lime juice, fish sauce, birds’ eye chillies and all. Brilliant.

Melissa Moore

Melissa began her hospitality career in London working for the Rolling Stones, returning to Australia at the dawn of the wine bar explosion in Melbourne to develop a deep love of wine, restaurants, beaches and much warmer weather. She has judged at several national and local wine shows including The Royal Sydney Show, the NSW Wine Awards and The Alternative Varieties Wine Show, and contributed to the Sydney Morning Herald with wine selection articles. Melissa was selected to be a scholar of the Len Evans’ Tutorial and was dux of the 2019 New Zealand Family of Twelve Tutorial. She was previously Head Sommelier at Merivale and is now Beverage and Operations Manager for the Love Tilly Group. She lives in Sydney with her family.