Watervale Riesling 2023

Fruit for the 2023 Riesling is a sub-regional blend from the vineyards of our dedicated growers. The growing season was cool with moderate rainfall, these conditions allowing the fruit to hang a little longer on the vine, as is the Vickery way, without climatic or disease pressure, but facilitating full varietal expression.

After walking the vineyards and tasting for fruit and flavour ripeness, Keeda decided that the first pick would be on March 16^th with all fruit off the vines by March 25^th – a very compact timeframe. This small window presented idyllic harvesting conditions with the cool, dry nights that Clare is famous for. Immediately after harvest, the fruit was taken to the winery at Watervale for pressing to avoid extended skin contact. The Vickery style utilises pressings material in the final blend to add flavour to the wine, with the press-cut happening a lot earlier than normal to retain flavour without bitter phenolics.