Rieslingfreak No 5 Clare Valley Off Dry Riesling 2023

Sourced from the family vineyards at White Hut, No.5 is harvested from a site that has shale grey soils over limestone, giving a lighter style wine. Fermentation is stopped early, to preserve a fruit driven hint of sweetness.

“Beautiful floral, honeysuckle, lime, talc scented, highly aromatic bouquet: there’s the sense that the residual sugar is lifting the fruit, which is often the way in off-dry and semi-sweet style rieslings. Exquisite aromas, a note of stone-fruits, the taste off-dry but you would never describe it as sweet. It dries off towards the back-palate with a lot of acidity. Beautifully balanced, a magical wine. The most gorgeous wine on the day. (From the Hughes family’s White Hutt vineyard. 13 grams/litre of sweetness. On the riesling scale: half-way through the medium-dry section)” – 96 Points – Huon Hooke – The Real Review

“The fruit for this 2023 No. 5 was picked earlier to harness the natural acidity in order to balance the sweetness. It hails from the same vineyard as the Riesling No. 3 (White Hutt in northern Clare Valley) and is picked three days earlier. Thirteen grams per liter of residual sugar remain in this wine. The 2023 No. 5 is spicy and very fine, with lychee, jasmine, white tea, bath salts and nashi pear. This is fuzzy and flowery and pretty, but it has wicked line and tension through the mid-palate onwards. It’s a powerful wine cloaked in softness and approachability. Not to be underestimated, there’s a dual personality here and very well played. This is one of the greatest off-dry Rieslings in Australia. 10.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.” – 95 Points – Erin Larkin – The Wine Advocate