2008 The Noble Wrinkled Riesling - 375ml
100% McLaren Vale Riesling
© Roger Fletcher
Technical Information
Harvest Dates:
21 March & 29 April
Alcohol by Vol:
11.5%
Glucose + Fructose:
216 g/L
Titratable Acid:
9.4 g/L
pH:
3.40
Bottling Date:
5 January 2009
Chief Winemaker:
Chester d’Arenberg Osborn
Senior Winemaker:
Jack Walton
The Story Behind The Name
24 years on from our first Noble Riesling, with two other sticky wines in the Noble stable, it is time to give this wine a proper name. Botrytis cinerea or Noble Rot as it more affectionately known removes the water from the grapes, turning the sugar to nectar in the process and leaving the skin of each berry in a wrinkled state.
The Characteristics
The wine is yellow-golden in appearance. The nose is delicate and seductive with perfumed aromas of flowers, lime cordial and poached pears.
The palate is tight and mouth coating with ripe, exotic flavours dominated by yellow peach and fresh lime. The wine has superb fruit concentration and sweetness balanced with fine lacy acidity that adds definition to the finish which has a touch of grapefruit and lemon zest.
The fruit characters are vibrant and refreshing making it a perfect accompaniment to dessert, a fruit platter or a selection of cheese.
Already great drinking, it will age well over the next 5 to 10 years adding complexity which will offer great versatility in serving options.
The Vintage
Adequate rains in winter and spring set the vines up well with healthy canopies. Warm weather over the Christmas break subsided for an un-seasonally cool January and early February.
There was a string of hot days in early March which promoted high sugar levels in the ripening berries. A small amount of rain experienced in late April combined with the high sugar levels in the grapes to induce Botrytis cinerea.
The warm conditions and high sugar levels promoted rapid growth of Botrytis and the majority of fruit was picked on April 29 looking vibrant with a great level of natural sweetness, flavour and acidity.
The Winemaking
Late harvesting from three vineyards took place by hand in small volumes when fruit flavours and the Botrytis cinerea infections were at an optimal point.
The fruit was gently crushed before receiving a small amount of skin contact. The juice was separated via the gentle process of basket pressing.
Fermentation occurs in a number of small tanks using neutral yeast to cope with the high natural sugar levels and to avoid dominating the fruit characters.
The fermentation stopped naturally, retaining a considerable level of residual sugar.