Aroma

The bouquet is sweetly scented with aromas of custard apple, passionfruit, pineberry and ylang ylang, which carry through onto the lusciously flavoured palate.

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.

Region Notes

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.

Vintage Notes

The lead up to the 2024 vintage was a typical 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 and early autumn and occasional short bursts of warmer weather ensuring maximum flavour development and natural acid retention.