Grosset : Polish Hill Riesling 2022

The Polish Hill Riesling is muscular and defined in its structure and routinely shows authority and grace from the outset. This 2022 Polish Hill Riesling is mineral and fine, yet phenolic and taut as well. The acidity brings tension and vitality on the palate, and although the wine is pristine, it is also chalky and pithy. The Polish Hill Riesling has a decorated legacy and is prized for its longevity in the cellar. There have been murmurs of similarities between 2022 and the great and fabled 2002 vintage, which bodes very well for the future of this wine. Riesling mainlines the dirt and takes us to place. This is why we gravitate toward great wine: to be taken to the earth, the vineyard, and the region.

Spectacular nose with a cornucopia of delicate citrus, stone-fruit and wildflower aromas. Then, an equally stunning combination of fruit and a radically slatey, flinty and aniseed character. Very long finish with so much energy and great minerality. Excellent aging potential! From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Full bottle 1,411 g. From Jeffrey Grosset's famous 8-ha vineyard at 460 m in the coolest part of the Clare Valley, now certified organic and biodynamic. The low-fertility soils of the hard, rocky site are silt and shallow shales over a thin crust of clay and gravel where the vines have to work much harder than in his Springvale vineyard 5 km away. Nose of lime, flowers and enormous extract. It's its own master but there are definitely notes of a top German GG. Very long and substantial. There was a time when Springvale was much more approachable in youth than Polish Hill but I think those positions may be reversed in 2022. There's even a certain opulence to this wine! As well as the usual steely undertow. Very long indeed. (JR)

12.9% ABV. Biodynamic farming. On the nose, quite similar to Springvale: clear and delicate, green apple, lime, pomelo, netted melon. Delicate, very juicy citrus fruit with salty accents; the ripe acidity is well integrated. Wonderful drinking flow with drive on the palate; a very gastronomic wine with a multifaceted, mineral-driven finish.