O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling 2021
- 96
- $25
- Drink by: 2021-2033
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If ever you were in two minds about exploring Australian riesling, this is your moment. The Clare Valley 2021 vintage was a blinder. Any doubts about how complex the grape can be in its youth, or its innate charm and intrigue will disappear with the first sip of the O’Leary Walker 2021 Watervale Riesling.
Unforced, a natural cool beauty, Watervale combines stunning aromatics – apple blossom, white flowers – with lingering aromas of Tahitian lime, lemon, grapefruit. Citrus and talc florals work hand in hand here. Soft, textural acidity offers a solid foundation for the brisk lemony brightness and lime cordial intensity of the fruit. And it lasts and lasts on a long, clean finish.
Guess you might say I fell hard for this young riesling. A classic riesling vintage in the Clare Valley is a thing to behold. Excellent drinking now, it will be a pleasure to follow its journey.
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.
