Kirrihill Regional Series Dry Riesling 2020
- 94
- $19
- Drink by: 2021 - 2030
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Yes, it’s just a $19 wine. Yes, it gets a whopping big 94 point score out of 100. Let me tell you why.
At the heart of the 2020 Dry Riesling is the essence of the Clare Valley’s premier white grape variety: a combination of white flowers, jasmine, spring blossom and a lime cordial, citrus concentration. One deep inhale of the scent, and you are transported to the Clare Valley. You could not be anywhere else. Simple . . . and not so simple. Try that with a lot of other sub-$20 wines out there.
There is plenty of detail, too. Like the signature youthful zesty acidity that brings real energy to the wine. Acid fiends will rejoice but, for others, consider this kind of acidity as soft, that is, it’s not abrasive. It fits right in and will allow the wine to age with grace and drinkability from here on.
You can also trust that the emerging texture coming through on the wine will also gain substance. And, it’s DRY, and it’s indicated right there on the front label. Yes! So many rieslings remain a mystery to drinkers – and are therefore placed in the too hard basket – because they don’t know if they are buying dry, off-dry or sweet. So, that 94 points suddenly takes on real meaning. This is a classic Clare Valley riesling built for today, for tomorrow, that over-delivers on price.
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.
