Mount Barker ‘Icon’ Riesling 2023

The 2023 Mount Barker Icon Riesling is a vibrant delight, bursting with citrus blossom and lemon zest aromas complemented by floral notes. On the palate, it offers a lively blend of citrus, lime, and green apple flavours, finishing with a crisp flinty note.

About the Producer: This wine hails from a boutique winery in Denmark, Western Australia, with over 35 years of winemaking experience. The winemakers blend traditional and modern techniques to respect the grape’s unique qualities.

About the Icon: This iconic figure, a legendary singer, started as a jazz vocalist and transitioned into jazz, pop, soul, and R&B. Her music was deeply personal, reflecting her struggles with addiction and relationships. She won five Grammy Awards but tragically passed away at 27 due to substance abuse. Her inclusion in the Icon range of wines aims to honour her as an iconic artist.

Comments from Wine Buyer Steve

This is a Riesling in a class of its own. It is from one of Western Australia’s best producers of the variety located in Denmark but growing the fruit for this wine in Mont Barker. We have been very lucky to secure a small parcel of this wine for our customers. The wine just oozes crisp acid flavours of citrus and lime and a beautiful mineral finish. You won’t find a Riesling of this class for anywhere near our price of $17.00 per bottle. The winery sells it for $35!

My Score 93/100  – WACC Gold Medal.

What is Riesling?: Riesling vines are particularly hard-wooded and like cold weather. They bud late, so are well-suited to the coldest wine-growing climates. The berries are small, round and soft when ripe, with tender, greenish-yellow skins that have a flecked appearance. The bunches hang in tight, winged clusters that ripen later than other varieties.

Riesling has a powerful and distinctive floral and apple-like aroma that frequently mixes in mineral elements from its vineyard source and is often described as racy. The most frequently encountered aroma or flavour for the Riesling are woodruff, rose petal, violet, apple, pear, peach or apricot.

Some of Australia’s best Rieslings come from the Clare Valley region, wines acclaimed for their intense flavours and longevity