Astrolabe Grovetown
Spätlese/Medium Riesling
2021
Marlborough’s temperate long growing season is perfect for riesling. The riesling for my Spätlese/Medium Riesling is grown closest to our house at our organically run Farm vineyard beside a grove of fruit trees including citrus, stone fruit, cider apples and a fig. We watch the fruit ripen from our kitchen window.
We only have one block of riesling, but I make two very different wines by taking the fruit down two different paths in the winemaking. For my Medium Riesling, I have chosen to stop the fermentation while the alcohol is low and when I thought the sugar and acid were in perfect balance. I am referencing a little the classic European style of riesling from Germany and trying to showcase how different combinations of sugar, acid and alcohol can work in different balances, provided they are complimentary. I have retained a reasonable amount of natural sugar but left it in balance with the very bright acid structure.
I have used only the free-run juice in the winemaking to keep the structure, clarity and brightness where I want it and to minimise the coarse roundness that comes with the skins. This is an aromatic, fruity wine where the sugar is held in tension by a crisp acidity. The lush flavours of this wine will be further enhanced by toasty, honeyed bottle development with cellaring.
Simon Waghorn — Winemaker
NEWS
We are proud to have won the top trophy at The Great Burleigh Pie Challenge 2020. Our Astrolabe Farm Spätlese/Medium Riesling 2017 was paired with the Jamaican Lamb Curry Pie. A suprising yet rewarding wine and food match — read more about the competition here.
TASTING NOTES
COLOUR/APPEARANCE
Mid gold.
AROMA/BOUQUET
Sweet lemon and honeysuckle, with apple and lime notes and some minerality.
PALATE
Round, juicy palate with flavours of ripe limes and lemonade, sherbet and sweet apple, with some honeyed notes and a clean finish.
AGING POTENTIAL
This wine will continue to develop rewarding flavour and bottle complexity with ageing.
FOOD PAIRING
Pairs well with zesty and spicy foods. Try with Viet-Cajun seafood, Thai crab dishes, pork belly or spicy fried cauliflower.
RIESLING SERVING TEMPERATURE
Chilled.
2021 vintage
91 POINTS
"The 2021 Grovetown Spätlese is a gorgeous, medium-sweet Riesling that has loads of juicy nectarine and citrus flavors and plenty of mouthwatering acidity to cut through that sweetness, making for a rather joyful, skip-along Riesling. It's clean, pure and has delightful clarity as well as 8.5% alcohol. Cook me up some roast pork and do away with the apple sauce; this Riesling would make the perfect Sunday lunch pairing. Drinking window 2022-2028." MAR 22
-
Rebecca Gibb, Master of Wine
Vinous
92 POINTS
"A perfumed nose of red and green apples, wet stone, thyme and moss. Medium-bodied and sweet. There is a mineral and herbal character to the palate that plays nicely with the sweetness. Composed and charming." OCT 22
-
James Suckling
jamessuckling.com
2020 vintage
94 POINTS
"Ripe fruited and highly scented bouquet with aromas of green apples and roses, honeysuckle and sweet apricot flesh with a flinty mineral core. Equally complex and exotic on the palate with plenty of sweetness contrasted by high-toned electric acidity carrying all the richness and flavour. As the sweetness subsides flavours of apples and white flesh stone fruits, an abundance of lemon and roses return. Long finish, balanced and well made. Delicious with gently spiced fare or just on its own. Drink upon purchase and through 2030." MAY 21 -
Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier
camdouglasms.com
90 POINTS
"Moderately sweet riesling with apricot, honey, lemon blossom and tree-ripened Royal Gala apple flavours. An initial impression of sweetness is moderated by crisp acidity that introduces some pleasing tension into the wine. Drink 2021 to 2027" MAY 21
-
Bob Campbell, Master of Wine
The Real Review © The Real Review
Sustainably certified SWNZ
Vegan