Pikes The Merle Riesling 2025
- 97
- $65
- Drink by: 2025-2045
Share
The flagship Riesling from the team comes from the estate vineyard in the Polish Hill River sub-region in the Clare valley. 100% free run juice with four months on lees. As always, this will sit with the very finest Rieslings made in the region for the vintage. Very pale steel/lemon in hue, this is still extremely youthful. Taut, poised and tightly focused, the nose reveals notes of grapefruits, lemongrass, florals, wet slate, limes and jasmine. There is a fine line of acidity running the length. Excellent energy throughout, this is a juicy style, immaculately balanced, with an extremely long finish. It will still be amazing wine lovers in two decades, likely longer.
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.
