Worlds Apart Wines In the Flowers Riesling 2021
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Green-tinged straw in color. The nose evokes the scent of a fresh apple pie about to go into the oven with a lemon-scented jasmine tea and a green herbal edge. The palate has sublime textural grip to not be heavy but also offer a yeasty, bitter note that is quite refreshing. More apple notes continue and the wine is truly ethereal from the front to the back with a litheness that strays from being overtly sweet or the inverse of too acidity. Quite ethereal from start to finish, the wine is a lithe expression without overt sweetness, or conversely, teeth stripping acidity.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A fresh wine with deep, fresh lemon on the nose, as well as wet-stone minerals. The palate delivers such impressive drive and depth with pithy yellow-citrus flavors and a steady stream of acidity that supports the long finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aromatic, perfumed and fleshy, the 2021 In The Flowers Eden Valley Riesling has bright lime flesh, some spring flowers and layers of quartz and crushed minerals on the base of the palate. In the mouth, the wine is textural and classical in its fruit expression but has texture from barrel fermentation and lees work. Bottled after around 18 months, the élevage is obvious in the mouth. Classy and really nice.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Higher in elevation and topographically more dramatic than the Barossa Valley floor, Eden Valley abuts it to its south and east. While it is a bit of an extension of Barossa, Eden Valley is topographically different than the pastoral Barossa Valley, and is composed of rocky hills and eucalyptus groves.
Recognizing Eden Valley’s potential with Riesling in the 1960s and 70s, producers started to move their Riesling production from Barossa to these better sites where schist soils on hilltops would produce more steely, tart and age-worthy examples. A most famous site, planted by Colin Gramp, called Steingarten, today produces one of the most outstanding Australian Rieslings. Youthful Eden Valley Rieslings express floral, grapefruit and mineral, while with time in the bottle, they become increasingly toasty and complex.
Riesling isn’t the only grape the region can grow; undeniably at lower altitudes Shiraz does very well. Mount Edelstone is a notable vineyard as well as the Hill of Grace, which boasts healthy Shiraz vines well over 100 years old. This is the only Australian region where Merlot has a made a name for itself and Chardonnay can be spectacular, particularly from the High Eden subregion in the southern valley.