Tasting Report: My Top 25 Barossa Rieslings In 2013

I got off the plane from Hong Kong in Adelaide for the Barossa Wine Show a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't even have two hours in Australia before I was tasting a range of mostly 2012 and 2013 Eden Valley Rieslings.

Eden Valley Rieslings can be vibrant white wines. I love their intense acidities and minerally, almost flinty character. I often think of great Rieslings from Germany's Mosel Valley when I taste top ones. I was especially happy to taste them thanks to their relatively low alcohols. Most are about 11.5% to 12.5%.

Wine producers in the region told me that they consider 2013 to be an amazing vintage for Riesling due to less hot weather than past vintages. They weren't very keen on the 2012s, though I found some good ones.

The 2013 Eden Valley Rieslings are certainly steelier and more minerally than the 2012s. However, I do feel that sometimes the acidity in the 2013s can be a little overwhelming. I wish some winemakers would hold back on the level of acidification in their wines. Around a third I tasted were overacidified.

Some of this comes right with bottle age but the squeezed lemon character can really be too much – and I am a wine drinker who loves acidity. I think that most consumers, especially those outside of Australia, will feel similarly about some of these young, electrified Eden Valley Rieslings.

Nevertheless, I scored one 2013, Peter Lehmann Riesling Eden Valley Wigan, 94 points, and two, Henschke Riesling Eden Valley Julius and Poonawatta Riesling Eden Valley The Eden, 93 points. I also scored seven more 92 points.

In addition, I tasted a number of older wines that showed how beautifully these vivacious Rieslings age. For example, 2002 Pewsey Vale Vineyard Riesling Eden Valley The Contours was amazing quality with its compacted and dense palate yet lively freshness. I scored it 94 points.

For the record, the winning wine of the event – The Phil Hoffmann Wine Business Traveller Trophy or Most Outstanding Barossa Table Wine – was a Riesling. It was the 2008 Gatt Riesling High Eden Eden Springs. I gave it 93 points, and it features below in my Top 25 Barossa Rieslings of 2013. Click here for a pdf of the Rieslings that didn't make the cut. Some were still outstanding at 90 points, while others underachieved.