2024 Vintage Notes
The lead up to the 2024 vintage was atypical for Clare and Eden Valleys with unusually warm and dry conditions through the Winter and Spring of 2023. However, three consecutive preceding years of record-breaking rainfall ensured soils, dams and aquifers were well supplied with abundant moisture. While the rains were scarce, a severe hailstorm in late November caused significant damage across the Clare Valley south of Watervale, as well as the northern reaches of the Barossa. Fortunately, our vineyards were largely unaffected. Polish Hill River and White Hutt lie further to north of the impacted areas and our sole vineyard block at Watervale was largely spared. Hail damage throughout Eden Valley was sporadic and comparatively minor.
Summer temperatures and rainfall were in line with the long-term average with sporadic rains dissipating entirely with the onset of Autumn. The Barossa Valley would experience its driest autumn on record, receiving only 15% of the long-term average rainfall for the season. The dry ripening season ensured zero disease pressure with cooler conditions in late summer & early autumn and occasional short bursts of warmer weather ensuring maximum flavour development & natural acid retention.
Rieslingfreak commenced harvest on February 15 – a full month earlier than the very late start in 2023 and much closer to the long-term average for vintage. The 2024 harvest began with a small parcel of grapes from our family vineyard at White Hutt for our No.9 “Sekt” Sparkling Riesling. The remainder of the vineyard was selectively harvested over 4 days in quick succession. No.1, No.3, No.5, No.6, No.7 wines plus an extremely special parcel for a one-off wine to celebrate John’s 50th Birthday – to be released this year as the No.50. This is the first time that seven different Rieslings have been produced from the family vineyard in a single vintage. Testament to the supreme quality and diversity of Riesling this year.
Completing harvest of White Hutt in just 4 days, we continued to the Polish Hill River and Flaxman Valley vineyards shortly thereafter with all but one of our vineyards being harvested by the 1st of March. Vintage concluded on March 7 with a small parcel from the Avon Brae Vineyard at Springton bound No.4.
Crop levels in 2024 were slightly reduced across both regions due to both minor hail damage from the late November storm in 2023 and drier than usual growing conditions. But there was still plenty of perfectly pristine Riesling to be had.
2024 No.2 Polish Hill River Riesling
Sourced from the Polish Hill River vineyard, situated 5km South-East of the Clare township. The vineyard is owned by Rob and Lyn Jaeschke, who purchased the vineyard from Penfolds in 2010. The vineyard is planted on grey-brown loam based soils, over sandy limestone and shale rock. The Riesling vines are approximately 15 years old, planted on 40 year old root stock. Polish Hill River is renowned for producing Riesling of elegance, and the 2024 No. 2 is the ultimate example of this. The bouquet is highly perfumed with aromas of fresh green apple, jasmine, and lemonbalm with a hints of honeysuckle and fresh linen. The palate is crisp yet silky-soft, with a fine, talc-like minerality imparting a pleasing slipperiness to the texture in the mouth. The bright flavours of Granny Smith apple and yuzu run a fine line between sweet and tart, while the elegant and complex palate is punctuated with bright natural acidity, imparting exceptional length and a clean, crisp finish.
Review by David Brookes - Halliday
Polish River-sourced fruit from two picks spaced 10 days apart. Water-white with a flash of green and fruit aromas of freshly squeezed lime juice, makrut lime and lemongrass. Hints of citrus blossom, crushed stone, celery salt, Christmas lily, green-apple sorbet and liminal notes of clover and honeysuckle. Such a sleek, tightly bound package, with a steely focus, porcelain acidity and a pitch-perfect tubular palate shape. It's lovely saline and sapid drinking now, but this will age beautifully.
98 Points
Winefront Review by Campbell Mattinson
Posted on 29 September 2024
'Full RRP is $37 but I paid $29 and it’s not difficult to find this for sub $30. At that, it’s truly remarkable value. It’s grown on a single block of riesling in this famous Clare Valley sub-region.
The quality of this set me back on my heels. It’s intense, penetrating and lengthy. It’s driven by lime and lime leaf, as you’d expect, but there’s also a clear influence of river stones, rind, chalk, tonic and steel. One sip and you’re convinced. This is an elite Australian riesling.'
96 Points
2024 No.3 Clare Valley Riesling
The No.3 is harvested from the family vineyard, situated in White Hutt, Clare Valley. The grapes are grown on heavy red clay soils that are rich in nutrients and have significant water holding capacity. These classic Terra Rossa soils are responsible for the rich flavours and generous palate weight that has become the hallmark of the No.3. The family vineyard in White Hutt always produces wines of great generosity, and the 2024 No.3 is a uniquely balanced wine that exhibits both richness and delicacy. The nose is richly seductive with aromas of Bergamot, Pink Lady Apples, and fresh nectarines. The palate is intensely flavoured with zesty citrus-driven flavours of tangerine and grapefruit, complemented by tangy apple and highlighted with sweet tropical notes of guava and lychee. The lusciously flavoured palate is classically generous yet deceptively delicate, deftly bound by a tight line of crisp natural acidity that carries through to a long, zesty finish.
Review by David Brookes - Halliday
Such a beautiful, concentrated yet composed wine from John's mum and dad's vineyard at White Hutt, 5.8km north of the Clare township. So perfumed and essential, with crunchy lime, green apple and grapefruit alongside high tones of wildflowers, Christmas lily, jasmine, talc, mineral salts, peach skin and stone. Concentrated yet super-tight on the palate with a tubular core of focused lime and citrus fruits, a beautifully fine structure and a tangy, energetic line with velocity to burn. A superb, pristine wine.
97 points
2024 No.4 Eden Valley Riesling
Rieslingfreak No.4 is made from selected vineyards across the Eden Valley region; predominantly the High Eden subregion of Flaxman Valley, which is renowned for producing delicate, elegant styles of Riesling. Selected parcels from vineyards on the outskirts of Angaston and Springton, reputed for intense flavour and rich aromatics, add complexity to the bouquet and opulence to the palate. Eden Valley is renowned for Riesling of elegance, perfume and minerality; and the 2024 No.4 is a classic example of this unique style. The bouquet leaps forth with intense aromas of passionfruit, rosewater, and Tahitian lime; complemented by the evocative summertime scent of rain falling on warm slate. The palate is elegant yet assuredly structured with foundational slate-like minerality running beneath the punchy flavours of freshly squeezed lime juice and elderflower cordial. The tightly wound natural acidity, which is a hallmark of both the region and the 2024 vintage, runs the length of the palate drawing through to a fine, crisp finish; while the flavours lingering lusciously in the mouth long after the wine has gone.
Review by David Brookes - Halliday
Sourced from Rieslingfreak growers in the Eden Valley, predominately the High Eden; John recalls there were lots of smaller bunches in the '24 season. Tight and high-toned, as all Eden Valley riesling should be, with Bickford's lime cordial and Tahitian limes at its base. Hints of orange blossom, crushed quartz, lemongrass and stone with a light, balanced sheen of phenolics and a febrile sense of urgency as it careens across the palate, finishing fine and long.
95 points
2024 No.5 Clare Valley Off Dry Riesling
Harvested from the family vineyard, situated in White Hutt, just north of the Clare township. The block selected for No.5 is grey clay over limestone, with the vines planted in an east/west direction. The nature of this block results in fruit of unique elegance and flavour with high natural acid retention; perfectly suited to producing exquisitely balanced Off Dry Riesling. A year like 2024 which is marked by boldly assertive flavour and an abundance of natural acidity in the grapes, provides for a perfect vintage to produce beautifully balanced Off Dry Riesling. The bouquet is richly imbued with sweet red apple and tropical fruit aromas, evoking a summer cocktail of pineapple, passionfruit and guava. These sweetly succulent aromas transition seamlessly onto lusciously flavoured palate, where the sweet tropical flavours are balanced by a delightful zing of sherbet-like acidity. The natural sweetness of the style adds an unctuous richness to the mid-palate, while the driving natural acidity imparts linearity and length with a crisp, clean finish.
Review by David Brookes - Halliday
I'm a sucker for a good off-dry riesling (here, it's 13g/L RS), and this certainly ticks a lot of boxes for me. The palest of straw and green flashes in the glass with fruit tones of lime, green apple, white peach and crunchy nectarine. Hints of citrus blossom, riverstone, wildflowers, starfruit and apple sorbet. There's a real tension to this wine, a pressure-like interplay between RS and acidity that releases with a long, purely fruited draw on the finish, seeming drier than you'd expect as the acidity tempers that gentle sweetness beautifully. Bravo.
96 points
2024 No.8 Polish Hill River Schatzkammer Riesling
Sourced from our Polish Hill River vineyard, situated 5km South-East of the Clare township. The vineyard is owned by Rob and Lyn Jaeschke, who purchased the vineyard from Penfolds in 2010. The vineyard is on grey-brown loam, over sandy limestone and shale rock. Riesling Block “D6” which is specially selected for the No.8 is a tiny planting of just 0.4 ha, situated in a small gully bordered by a steep hill to the North, and the tree-lined bank of a creek to the South. The vines are approximately 20 years old, planted on 44 year old root stock and are planted in an East-West direction. With an abundance of natural acidity in the grapes, 2024 makes for an exciting vintage for our iconic “Schatzkammer” Riesling. The bouquet is sweetly scented with aromas of custard apple, passionfruit, pineberry and ylang ylang, which carry through onto the lusciously flavoured palate. This wine is low in alcohol, with a finely-tuned balance of succulent residual sweetness and tangy natural acidity that balances, seemingly effortlessly, on a knife edge of precision. While the luscious sweetness flows across the tip of the tongue, carrying a fruit basket of flavours and sweetshop memories with it, this seamlessly gives way to a line of racy natural acidity that drives the length of the palate to a clean, crisp finish - the ultimate hallmark of the very best examples of this unique style of Riesling.
Review by David Brookes - Halliday
An unctuous Polish Hill River-born riesling from the Jaeschke family vineyard that sports 32 g/L of RS in an Aussie Kabinett style. Super pale with a green flash and pure and expressive fruit tones of lime, grapefruit, custard apple, feijoa and pomelo with underlying hints of orange blossom, frangipani, riverstone and some vaguely earthy mycelial undertones. It's an enchantingly pure wine, its finely honed tension making it appear drier than you'd expect, with a fine, minerally cadence, an ache of umami and a drawn-out lime sorbet finish. Superb drinking.
96 points
2023 No.10 Zenit Riesling
The 2023 No.10 is a blend of 55% Eden Valley and 45% Clare Valley, from specially selected sites across two of our most outstanding vineyards of the year; the Lienert Vineyard in Flaxman Valley, and from “C Block” on our Family Vineyard at White Hutt in the Clare Valley.
The 2023 No.10 effortlessly harmonises the unbridled potency and assertive elegance of Clare Valley, with the slick precision and heady perfume of Flaxman Valley; creating a Riesling that is perfectly balanced with knife-edge precision. The bouquet is exquisitely perfumed, an enticing symphony of fresh lime, Honeycrisp apples, lemon myrtle and rosewater.
The palate is equally seductive; perfectly pure and pristine with a soft, velvety texture and gentle acidity that imparts a lithe elegance and graceful persistence to the finish. The ultimate expression of an exceptional Riesling vintage.
2024 No.12 Flaxman Valley Riesling
The 2024 Rieslingfreak No.12 was harvested from the Lienert family vineyard in Flaxman Valley in High Eden, a premium sub-region of Eden Valley. Renown for growing worldclass Riesling of unrivalled elegance, this wine captures the very essence of the High Eden subregion in all its splendour. First released in 2021 to celebrate John’s achievement as being heralded as Barossa’s Winemaker of the Year, this wine celebrates the beauty of High Eden Riesling via a distinctive and highly perfumed bouquet, and elegantly structured palate. The 2024 No.12 is intensely perfumed with aromas of Kaffir lime and rosewater with the classical Eden Valley mineral accent of wet-slate. The palate is ultra-refined and exceptionally delicate, with slick and satiny texture. Exhibiting a symphony of zesty citrus flavours including Persian lime, yuzu and finger lime, combined with the sweet-floral pungency of fresh quince, the palate is grounded by a lick of flinty minerality with a sharpened steely edge. The crisp natural acidity imparts length and vibrancy, bringing laser-sharp focus to the driving, persistent finish. A standout of the 2024 vintage with both immediate allure and enviable aging potential.
Review by David Brookes - Halliday
From the Lienert family vineyard in Flaxman Valley, way up in the cool climes of the High Eden subregion of the Eden Valley. Fruit tones of freshly squeezed lime, grapefruit and lime with underlying citrus blossom, passionfruit flower, makrut lime, crushed quartz and stone. Some nice concentration here, but it's all about focus and tension, the wine tensing initially and releasing with a burst of limey fruit and a nervy mineral energy.
96 points
(Image: Belinda & John Hughes - Rieslingfreak / www.rieslingfreak.com)