SHEILD Riesling 2023

Reviews

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 95/100. Wow. This is really Saar in character, showing intense minerality and limes with vivid energy and length. Medium body with a crisp finish. Boom! Find it.

Tasting note

Medium yellow in colour-reminiscent of the translucent fruit. The nose is brimming with primary fruit aromas of citrus blossom and lime, secondary aromas of white, creamed honey. This wine is a juicy explosion in the mouth thanks to the whisper of sugar and Riesling’s typical brisk acidity. The palate is cool and glassy, teased out to a long finish by fine phenolics and a stony minerality typical of fruit from the plains

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Wine type: White wine from New Zealand

Varietal: Riesling

Food match: A congenial elevenses or lunchtime wine, stimulating aperitif or lively dinner companion - try with sticky pork belly.

Vineyard: Appleby, Nelson, New Zealand. Undulating -clay loam to sandy clay loam.

Vine Age: 20 years.

Growing Season 2023: Winter 2022 was not especially cold as local sea temperatures remained warmish and influenced the land. Precipitation on the other hand was frequent, and sometimes heavy. Budburst was again early as we have become accustomed to with the La Nina dominant weather umbrella. Spring growth was also vigorous with water at field capacity in the soils, and warmer temperatures. The energetic spring conditions proved challenging for flowering and fruitset resulting in variability within varieties and across regional sites. Periodic rain events continued through summer and the vineyard vigor continued as well. Temperatures remained warm so fruit development was not retarded. Fingers were crossed from verasion and with a large amount of luck the rain held off and fruit was allowed to ripen and be harvested. Picking started early March with the Rose and was completed in a relatively short four week period. Grapes were once again clean and ripe.

Regional climate: Nelson’s sheltered topography gives protection from strong winds; combined with its proximity to the sea this gives milder temperatures than other South Island regions, mitigating frost risk. Regularly New Zealand’s sunniest region and with good diurnal variation this helps emphasise varietal character. High sunlight hours and a long growing season give wonderful fruit purity.

Winemaking: Apple Valley vineyard is on a North facing slope just South West of Mapua township and the entrance to the Waimea inlet, the largest estuary in the South Island. The fruit was translucent, perfectly clean, and ripe when it was machine harvested in the cool of early morning on the 3rd of April. The small but precious load was carted to the winery, during which time it was able to benefit from skin contact with the juice. On arrival it was further destemmed and lightly crushed to the press. The press cycle was carefully monitored, and the hard pressings separated off. The juices were cold settled for an extended period to achieve a high level of clarification. The free run and pressings were then racked to recombine and warmed for inoculation. A yeast strain isolated from German Riesling was chosen for the ability to produce a clean fruity bouquet and typical Riesling characters. The ensuing ferment filled the winery with a glorious aroma of citrus blossom. Cooling was employed to maintain a controlled ferment and protect the aromatics. The ferment was tasted and admired at regular intervals! The ferment was arrested at 13.5g/l residual sugar – the point at which the wine looked juicy, fruity, and in balance, then finished clean and surprisingly dry. The wine was racked off gross yeast lees and left to sit on fine lees for a period of 4 months before finishing for bottling in the last week of October.

Alcohol: 12% vol

Residual sugar: 13.5 g/l

TA: 8.55 g/l

Style: off-dry

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Cellaring potential: 2027+

Closure: Screwcap

Produced and bottled by: Drinks Cabinet Limited, Atawhai, Nelson 7010, New Zealand

Imported by: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany

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