Appellation Australia

15 classes of Riesling featuring 338 entries from Australia, New Zealand, Germany and North America? $15 entry and you get to pour your own samples and you get to take home whatever half bottles that are left over at the end? All I have to do is drive 4 hours to Canberra? I’m there.

So it was on the 22nd of October this year, I found myself in Canberra tasting through a rather daunting list of Riesling. My focus was on tasting briefly a wide selection of Riesling rather than detailed analysis of a limited sample. Thus, only a brief summary of each class followed by points from the standout wines.

The official awards from the judges follow;

Best Museum Class – Peter Lehmann “Reserve” 2001
Best Open Class – Palandri Wines 2004
Best Current Vintage – Madfish 2005
Best Riesling for the Canberra District – Mundoonen “Canberra” 2002
Best Riesling from New Zealand – Villa Maria “Reserve Noble” 2003
Best European Riesling – Weingut Schales “Eiswein” 2004
Best North American Riesling – Sheldrake Point “Ice Wine” 2004

The Best Riesling – Madfish 2005

My awards in the same categories would have been;

Best Museum Class – Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” 2002
Best Open Class – Villa Maria “Reserve Noble” 2003
Best Current Vintage – Seppelt “Drumborg” 2005
Best Riesling for the Canberra District – Helm “Classic Dry” 2005
Best Riesling from New Zealand – Villa Maria “Reserve Noble” 2003
Best European Riesling – Weingut Schales “Eiswein” 2004
Best North American Riesling – Sheldrake Point “Ice Wine” 2004

The Best Riesling – Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” 2002

I’ll post my notes and scores on each class over the next few days …