- Bellarmine’s flagship variety, our Half- Dry Riesling has won numerous awards and consistently high points over the years.
- Riesling Renaissance is well and truly here with this lively, floral white wine that has a slightly sweet finish.
- Enjoy chilled with pork belly or match with a delicate dessert such as poached pear or pannacotta. Also perfect with spicy Thai.
94 Points, Halliday Wine Companion "The sweetness is undeniable, but the acid has a savoury saline crunch to it. The aromatics are an abundant feast of orange blossom (a character I normally reserve for grüner veltliner), lemon flesh, green apple and white pepper. Curls of garden mint and white pepper colour the edges of the fruit.
WINE NOTES
Region: Pemberton, Western Australia
Drink Until: 2030
Variety: 100% Riesling
Pairing suggestion: Thai salad
Oak: Nil
Colour: Pale straw
Nose: Lime, floral scents.
Palate: Citrus and floral notes with a line of natural acidity and minerality giving the wine complexity and persistence of flavour.
Style: Aromatic, slightly sweet, well-balanced white wine.
Alcohol: 12.2% Residual Sugar: 19.5g/l
BACKGROUND: The grapes are sourced exclusively from the Bellarmine vineyard in the high quality cool climate region of Pemberton in South-Western Australia. The vineyard is at an altitude of 220 metres above sea level. Planted in 2000 by hand, the vines are trained to Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) to give optimum exposure of the fruit to sunshine during the ripening season which occurs from December to March. The soils are red gravel laterite soils which provide excellent drainage and give warmth to the vines' root systems at night from the sunshine the red gravel has absorbed during the daylight hours. This results in the Riesling being ready for harvest in late February/ early March before too much rain comes in as Autumn progresses. Bellarmine wines famously makes three different styles of Riesling, each with its own story and appeal. One of very few vineyards in Pemberton to grow Riesling, which was planted by German owners, Dr Willi Schumacher and his wife Gudrun in 2000.
HARVESTED: 2020
WINEMAKING: Harvested in the cool of the night at optimum flavour levels as determined by the winemaker regularly tasting the grapes, the fruit is treated very delicately to preserve the pristine citrus and floral aromas and flavours. This wine is made from both the first ‘free run’ juice taken from the initial crushing of the grapes and from the light pressings of the skins. The pressings portion gives this wine greater depth of ripe flavours which suit its slightly sweet style. Fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel as with other Rieslings so that oak is avoided and the natural characters of the variety are optimised. Sudden chilling of the tank occurs when the wine has only about one baume of sugar left to convert into alcohol. This stops the yeast cells and results in the wine being slightly sweet and very appealing to all different types of wine lovers.
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