Howard Park Museum Release Riesling 2019

If only more producers would release their aged Rieslings via a museum program like Jeff Burch has done since 1986. It’s such a delight to see this wine on the table, and to have an opportunity to talk about what delights come to those who wait even just for six years before cracking the bottle. Unlike the current release, this is 100% Mount Barker fruit. Mid gold in colour, with all shades of nuttiness, brine, lime pith and ripe honied nectar on the nose. There’s a hint of petrol too, in just the right quantity. On the palate this is fresh as a daisy and still promises so much more with time in the cellar if desired. The acidity will hold on for years longer, and the fruit is fine, shifting towards notes of quince, yellow nectarine and Meyer lemon, a little puff of mixed spice and a crisp crunched graphite, chalky minerality on the finish. It’s still long and lean, as per the current release, but there’s a fleshiness in the middle of the palate that age has brought on. Age does the same to us all, doesn’t it?