Prophet’s Rock Dry Riesling 2020

Paul’s love for Alsace whites whilst working there is the reason he makes both his ‘dry’ whites in oak, low yields and time on lees.Sourced from Rocky Point vineyard. Yields = 35 hct per hectare of this superb steep site. The 1st major glacier which formed the region didn’t make it to the Rocky Point site and latter ones didn’t expose the Schist as early as the Home Block further North, hence why the Schist hasn’t decomposed, meaning the Rocky Point vineyard is still a solid mass of Rock. This Schist rock is very predominant in the Rocky Point Vineyard – parent material of the whole region. When they do soil testing each year the issue they have is they do not enough nitrogen/organic matter in the soil due to the massive amount of mineral/solid rock that the vines are growing on. To combat this they do cover cropping to help with the nitrogen deficiency, using home-made compost.

A key point that Paul has mentioned in our conversations around his dry whites is the importance of elevage on lees. This was an important lesson he learnt whilst in Alsace, where the ‘greats’ almost always leave the wines post ferment on lees for extended periods, where so often in the new world for Riesling and Gris the wines are moved to tank/bottle in just a few months post primary ferment. Paul’s white’s are bottled just before the following vintage.

Hand Picked – whole bunch pressed – slow over 6 hours. Settled overnight in tank – then transferred to barrel – takes as much fine/fluffy lees as he can.

Wild Ferment in seasoned barrel (100% old). Slow ferment, 3 to 4 months due to temperatures. Once the ferment finishes, Paul doesn’t take off any lees for the entire elevage. Bottled before the start of the next harvest – 11 months approx. No Malo. Between 5 to 8 grams residual sugar. No Malo. Filtered due to sugar.

“An attractive nose of lemon curd, fresh thyme, rosemary, white peaches and freshly cut grass. Medium-bodied. Mineral and succulent with rounded fruit character. Fresh acidity. Delicious and dry. Drink or hold.” – James Suckling