2020 Hawkshead Riesling

New Zealand Rieslings have now stepped out of the shadow of Sauvignon Blanc with a confidence and charisma all their own. With lively fruit characteristics our Central Otago Riesling epitomises the strength and maturity of this increasingly celebrated variety.

Fresh, clean and with an eye-opening vitality, this off-dry 2020 Riesling offers up a pure expression of the grape variety. With a graceful swirl, the nose awakens with lemon, loquat nuances and white spring orchard blossoms. The palate is refreshed with racy fruit acidity, crisp citrus and apple flavours. Wonderful on its own, and also great paired with summer salads and seafood, this is a drink to delight.

Reviews

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
95/100pts, Outstanding quality showing varietal purity and exemplifying regio

This is instantly appealing on the nose showing crunchy apple, lime sorbet and floral aromas. The palate exhibits outstanding concentration and focus, wonderfully supported by refined mouthfeel and bright acidity. Super long and linear with layers of fine texture and delectable flavours. Style: Off-dry.  At its best: now to 2029.

Michael Cooper, New Zealand Wines
Michael Cooper’s Buyers Guide 2021 Edition
Excellent Quality verging on Outstanding

'Bliss in a bottle, the 2020 vintage (4.5*) was grown at Lowburn, in the Cromwell Basin. Bright, light yellow/green, it is a powerful, full-bodied style of Riesling, hand-picked, fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks (97 per cent) and seasoned French oak barriques (3 per cent), and lees-aged for three months. Highly drinkable in its youth, it is scented and mouth-filling, with rich, peachy, slightly spicy flavours, moderate acidity and a dryish (7 grams/litre of residual sugar), a very harmonious finish. Drink now or cellar.

Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
18.5/20pts, Gold Medal, Perfect to Outstanding

Bright, straw-yellow with some depth, lighter edged. The nose is presented elegantly, bright with gentle nuances of white floral and citrus, underlying honey, beeswax and stonefruit. Medium-bodied, dry-ish to taste, a taut core of lemon, lime, tangerine with its zest; intermix with lime flower and honey. Subtle white pepper and minerals unfold as it lingers to a crisp, citrus-fruited finish. Some residual sugar sweetness rounds the mouthfeel, balances the taut, mouthwatering acid. Citrus zest and a light phenolic grip bound stony minerals and crunchy acidity to a lengthy, dry finish. This is a citrusy Riesling with charming details and tension, presented with a rounded mouthfeel and dry, lengthy finish. Match with seafood and chicken katsu over the next 3-5 years. Fruit from Lowburn, handpicked, whole bunch pressed, 12 hours on skins. Fermented 97% in stainless steel, 3% in older oak barrels to 13% alc, 7 g/l RS. Rested on lees for 3 months. Oct 2020.

Mark Henderson, Otago Daily Times
Excellent Quality

Hints of rose petal/rose water lead, shifting to red apple, white flowers and a floral (attractively) soapy nuance. Ripe red apple, some cooked apple too, picking up hints of citrus and honey on the nicely textural and relatively dry palate. With aeration, there’s a crisp, crunchiness emphasising its youthful side, honeyed notes neatly balanced by acidity.

Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review
Silver Medal - 22 out of 34 (Riesling of NZ)

Technical Notes

Download Technical Notes PDF

Sub-Region: Lowburn
Colour: Bright, luminescent sun bleached straw
Style: Off-dry

Flavour Profile: Aromatic fragrance off lemon, white blossom and apricots lead to a rich bouquet of ripe citrus and loquat nuances. Refreshingly racy fruit acidity carries the citrus flavour to the palate and flows on to a long lingering, balanced persistent finish. The wine is well structured and leaves a rounded textured mouthfeel. Hawkshead Riesling is a wine of intensity, vitality and tension.

Winemaking Comments: Our 2020 Single Vineyard Riesling is from selected blocks in Lowburn, Central Otago. Free-draining soils of loess, schist, and uncemented gravels together with long hours of sunshine produce lively fruit with gentle ripe acidity. Handpicked on the 24th and 25th of April; 100% whole bunch pressed, with 12 hours skin contact. Indigenous yeast fermented in 97% stainless steel, the remainder in Old French barrique. Fermentation took 12 weeks with the finished wine resting on lees for three months for texture. It was filtered for clarity and stability, no fining undertaken.

Wine Analysis: pH 3.20, TA 7.6g/L, Alc 13%, Res Sugar 7g/L
Bottling Date: 20th August 2020
Wine Maker: Dean Shaw