Riposte The Scimitar Riesling 2025

Riposte is the wine branding for Tim Knappstein and son Nick, the former with a lifetime of intimate family and professional connection in the Clare Valley. So it’s not surprising the now Adelaide Hills based crew refers back to the OG region for its Riesling. This comes from a vineyard east of the Watervale township, where lime fruit, juice and zest are the calling cards of the variety, here too more aromatic interest arises in the form of a lime curd and subtle digestive biscuit note. In the drinking it’s all about the citrus, a first wave of tang then a softer tapering of acidity to the exit. Flavour props and an empathetic finish, mouthwatering excitement all with a gentle varietal touch.

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

Wine writingwine critic