ripening and harvest season for Riesling. Many people had no irrigation water at all for their vines.” By the time the 2025 Rieslings were ready to look at en masse, Phil said: “I approached the ’25 Eden Valley Riesling tasting with a bit of trepidation, remembering how tough the season was leading up to harvest, but strangely, perhaps, the resultant wines don’t really show me any of this torment.” It was arguably a year where attention across the seasons was paramount. Rieslingfreak’s John Hughes says that most years can be defined as either “a variety’s vintage or a winemaker’s vintage, and 2025 was definitely the latter.” For he and Belinda, irrigation management, the use of sunburn and heat distress clay protectant, harvest timing, acid adjustments, and juice finings all required extra focus in order to get the results they seek. Across the board, the 2025 Rieslings generally showed more subdued citrus aromatics and flavours than in the preceding vintage. The region’s signature white florals often played more quietly upon the nose, though the best of the crop still showed their true colours in that department. Minerality, on the other hand, was keenly displayed in many examples. This is not an unwanted character, according to Eden Valley Riesling legend Andrew Wigan, who reported that: “The region’s minerally wines are much loved by many Eden Valley winemakers.” For Phil Lehmann, the standout wines featured prominent notes of orange blossom or jasmine florals and lime citrus. “But, yeah, quite minerally and more shy flavour drive,” he suggests. “In short, I like the wines a helluva lot more than I did the seasons leading into vintage!”
South Australia Wine Guide 2026 | Barossa
59
Powered by FlippingBook