O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling 2021
- 96
- $30
- Drink by: 2022 - 2032
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I am just loving these 2021 Clare Valley Rieslings, almost universally across the board. Any winemaker in the region who got this wrong should be condemned to make only warm climate, young vine Sauvignon Blanc for the rest of their natural life. Of course, some guys will inevitably do it better than others and it will come as no surprise that Dave O’Leary and Nick Walker are right at the top of the tree. And at $30 each, the value for both these Rieslings is almost criminal. A case for now, a case for the cellar.
This is green with pale gold throughout. Beautifully aromatic with spices, kaffir limes, hints of grapefruit, some minerals if you look hard enough and floral notes. A wine which is textbook and stunning. The palate is intense with great length and immaculate balance. It is perhaps a fraction more generous than the nose suggested, but nothing wrong with that. A Riesling which is cracking now and has a decade ahead of it.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
