In the Deep South of Western Australia, the north side of an ancient mountain range – once higher than Everest, now very modest – produces exquisite, underpriced Rieslings.
If you find 2013 Abbey Creek Riesling on a shop shelf, snap it up!
It appears the winery has now sold all of this vintage; this is a very reliable producer, so you’ll likely be well-pleased by this wine’s currently available siblings from ’15, ’12 and ’11.
The ’13 was a beautiful, “drink tonight” wine when I first tasted it.
Right now it is a different, beautiful, “drink tonight” wine.
In ten years from now it will be different again, probably even more delicious, and rather “softer”.
In Autumn 2016 it is intensely limey, prodigiously looooooong.
It is still very “fresh”, but has evolved a good deal; if my memory is true, it is now less “orange-blossom” aromatic and its mouthfeel more viscous than it was 18 months ago.
This is a lovely example of an Australian specialty – Rieslings that are dry, but with abundant fruit, elegant but luscious.
They are wines that you love more as you make your way through a bottle, as opposed to the kind which seduce you at the cellar door tasting, but then prove cloying when you are drinking rather than only-tasting.
Anyone who likes dry Rieslings will probably love this…and – if only they got to taste it – so would many people who think they do not like Riesling!
Drink it cool rather than ice-cold. It will enhance/complement a surprisingly wide range of food.
As is true of not a few of Western Australia’s finest Rieslings, this one was made by Rob Diletti. (of Castle Rock – my favourite Riesling producer, period)
Footnote: Abbey Creek’s Pinot Noirs are also noteworthy…and pleasingly deceptive. They are quite light, so it would be very easy to assume “best enjoy this whilst it is young and fresh”. Having now enjoyed several vintages at 5-8 years after vintage, I know they in fact tend to be decidedly age-worthy.