Knappstein 1978 Transcendence Riesling 2025

The name of this Clare Valley Riesling immediately confers high status, the date referring to the Knappstein winery site’s origins as a brewery. History meets fine art winemaking, from winemaker Michael Kane’s sense of what is the ultimate achievement from the estate’s vineyards into the purest form of Clare Valley Riesling. In the glass – out of the glass – lifts citrus zest and juice of more lime than lemon, greenish pineapple and a delicate flint and white pepper note. The complexities define the palace as well, a coalescence of faint herbals to boot, pure and finessed, soft pith texturally, supremely sophisticated with a cool, refreshing and lasting flavour while remaining fully dry. Mighty fine drinking for Riesling purists. 

Tony Love

Journalist at Winepilot

Tony is best known for his 10 years as News Corp’s National Wine Writer, with weekly columns in major metropolitan mastheads throughout Australia including The Adelaide Advertiser, The Sydney Daily Telegraph and the Melbourne Herald Sun. He continues to write feature articles and columns for all the major Australian wine media publications. Tony has also worked as a restaurant reviewer, section editor, book editor, digital content provider, journalism teacher and was named Wine Communicators of Australia 2018 Legend of the Vine (SA). Find out more about Tony at tonylove.com.au

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