Richmond Grove Barossa Riesling 1998
Made by the legendary ex-Leo Buring Riesling guru, John Vickery, sealed with a stelvin screwcap and 12% alcohol by volume.
The most brilliant starbright pale lemon/green. If not for the severe reduction on both nose and palate, I believe there’d be a lot to like about this wine. Continual small pours over six hours all suffered the same fate - cordite, struck match and rubber overpowering some delectable tight citrus fruit with a toasty undertone. The acid structure on the palate provides suggests many years of development if not for the dominating sulphide problems, of course. Bummer. 75 points. Postscript - the last glass sat for one hour without swirling and definitely lost some of the sulphur on both nose and palate - a much better wine in every department. Closer to 85 points now.
Once again, raises the issue of proper/careful sulphur management by winemakers when using screwcaps.
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Bummer indeed DLo. What should I do with the 4 of these I have in the cellar? Still have 3 ’97s as well.
Nice to see you grab your own piece of pixels.
Welcome to the site, GlennD!
All I can suggest is to sit on them for another 10 years and pray! You’ll probably get bugger all for them at auction, I reckon. As with J.J. Prum’s Rieslings, time might see the sulphides dissipate, although with the screwcap, this might not be so easy. Don’t know enough about wine chemistry to speak with much confidence as well.