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95
/ 100
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94
/ 100
Tasting Notes
The fruit for this wine comes from the Smith's Ruchioch vineyard in Clare’s Polish Hill River sub-region, farmed under NASAA-certified organic practices.
Managed by grower Brodie Smith, the 23-year-old vines sit at 465m elevation in grey sandy loam over shale and limestone.
Fruit harvested in the cool of the morning, destemmed, crushed then pressed. The free run juice was fractioned, settled and fermented cool until dryness.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Low Tannin
- Tannic
- Sweet
- Dry
- Low Acidity
- High Acidity
Classification: White
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2023
Bottle Size: 750ml (Bottle)
Country: Australia
Region: South Australia, Clare Valley
Alcohol %: 11.2%
Cellaring: 5-10 Years
Scores
95 / 100"Formerly known as Ruchioch, but now the more prosaic Smith. Easier to check into a hotel for a dirty weekend with this wine, for sure. If you have a new McBryde, you don’t have to worry about such things. What am I saying? It’s not the 1950s. Bath salts, lime and spice, with a lovely chalky feel to texture, a certain savoury edge, tight acidity, such good grainy texture and complexity, with a very long finish, and a quinine-like tang in the aftertaste. So engaging and good to drink."
- Gary Walsh
94 / 100
"Grown by the Smith family and certified organic. There’s a wildness to this wine, but in the best sense. The fruit is pure, the wine pristine and vibrant. It seems to shoot out in the palate at mad angles, ultimately incredibly refreshing. Bitterness is pleasing, pretty lime works with that well. It’s got so much energy. The perfume is more lime, some flinty elements, a touch of talc too. It does a lot of things and distinctly and well. What a good expression we have here."
- Mike Bennie
