2006 GROSSET POLISH HILL RIESLING - AWKWARD ADOLESCENT

We have reviewed a number of vintages of the benchmark Polish Hill Riesling from Jeffrey Grosset on these pages.  This particular bottle is the first from a case of the 2006. Although seven years old, it remains relatively pale in colour, retaining a youthful silvery green hue.

On the nose and in the mouth, the wine appears to be in a transitional phase between youthful austerity and maturity.  It's like an awkward teenager, in the midst of adolescence, all legs and arms, not totally confident in itself.  The wine is rather subdued, developing weight and volume, the impression of acidity fading slightly, but yet to express the flavour and confidence that goes with a decade or so in bottle. On this showing, it is worth holding a year or two before broaching another bottle. 

2006 POLISH HILL RIESLING
Producer: Grosset
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2006
Region: Clare Valley, South Australia
ABV: 13.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: N/a
Date tasted: 3 November 2010

Tasting Note:
Pale, silvery green. Lifted, perfumed and aromatic, kaffir lime leaf, lime juice, grapefruit pith, touch of honey suggests some development. Weighty, quite voluminous in the mouth. There’s a sense of sweetness though the wine is technically dry. Delicate interplay of lemon and lime citrus, chalky minerality. Slightly subdued at present, suggesting that the wine might need a further 2-3 years in bottle to reveal more depth and complexity.
Score: 16+/20