‘Architects of Wine’ is a project making small batch wines from leading regions across South Australia. The focus is on minimum intervention, eschewing the more technical approach to winemaking that typifies most Australian wine.
This is a wine that stands out from the crowd, but not necessarily for good reasons. The skin contact influence manifests itself not only in the slightly cloudy appearance, but muddying both the aromatics and clarity of flavour.
There is a certain amount of aromatic complexity, though it isn’t easy to identify it as Riesling, well, not as we know it anyway. In the mouth, the wine has a quinine, almost tonic quality. Tannin asserts itself on the mid-palate.
This is by no means an unpleasant wine, but it is a one glass wine that needs to be matched with an appropriate dish. In some respects it is good to be challenged by wines like this, though one questions what it ultimately offers compared to a good conventionally vinified Riesling.
2015 ARCHITECTS OF WINE ‘SKIN CONTACT’ RIESLING
Producer: Architects of Riesling
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2015
Region: Clare Valley
ABV: 12.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $32.00
Date tasted: 14 January 2016
Tasting Note:
Pale silvery yellow. Slightly cloudy in appearance. Acacia, grapefruit pith and wet stone. Dry and pithy, noticeable tannic grip – like licking wet stones. Quinine and bitters, tonic. Works in the right food context but lacks clarity of aromatics and flavour.
Score: 14/20
This is a wine that stands out from the crowd, but not necessarily for good reasons. The skin contact influence manifests itself not only in the slightly cloudy appearance, but muddying both the aromatics and clarity of flavour.
There is a certain amount of aromatic complexity, though it isn’t easy to identify it as Riesling, well, not as we know it anyway. In the mouth, the wine has a quinine, almost tonic quality. Tannin asserts itself on the mid-palate.
This is by no means an unpleasant wine, but it is a one glass wine that needs to be matched with an appropriate dish. In some respects it is good to be challenged by wines like this, though one questions what it ultimately offers compared to a good conventionally vinified Riesling.
2015 ARCHITECTS OF WINE ‘SKIN CONTACT’ RIESLING Producer: Architects of Riesling
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2015
Region: Clare Valley
ABV: 12.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $32.00
Date tasted: 14 January 2016
Tasting Note:
Pale silvery yellow. Slightly cloudy in appearance. Acacia, grapefruit pith and wet stone. Dry and pithy, noticeable tannic grip – like licking wet stones. Quinine and bitters, tonic. Works in the right food context but lacks clarity of aromatics and flavour.
Score: 14/20
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