Allan Scott ‘Late Harvest’ Riesling 2015
Grape Varietal: 100% Riesling
Growing Region: Marlborough - New Zealand
Founder / Director: Allan Scott
Senior Winemaker: Bruce Abbott
4 Stars ★★★★
Over a number of years, I have worked behind the scenes with Allan and the team on making-blending a number of different wines for domestic and international markets. And in 2015 I was at the winery with all the tank and barrel samples. Looking at the parcels with a winemaker’s eye and also from the engagement of the customer, at each of the final blends we made. So, I am in a unique position to provide and share a 360° perspective.
This is an interesting ‘Late Harvest’ style sweet wine with a touch of botrytis thrown in for an added note of intensity. There is no hiding from the wines engaging character, once it hits your taste buds - as it is an overtly sweet, dessert style. The wine is produced by leaving the grapes on the vine well after the main harvest period had finished - so as to ‘concentrate’ the fruit flavours within each berry by withdrawing a portion of water back into the vine - along with added assistance of the botrytis drawing water out from each berry while resting on the skin.
The fruit was sourced from their ‘Moorlands’ vineyard and in May all the staff were rounded up and asked to carefully hand-pick only the moldiest, ugliest looking grapes used to create this luscious, sweet wine.
Hiding in these moldy grapes, was what can only be described as liquid gold. The unorthodox approach of allowing for 3 days of slow pressing of these shriveled, slight raisined grapes resulted in approximately 500L of liquid gold. The juice was lightly filtered to remove any remaining botrytis, and then fermented slowly for approximately 3 months before the yeast finally gave up, admitting defeat (beaten by the high level of natural sugar in the juice) - the wine was then aged for 6 months in neutral oak barrels - before being filtered to make sure the wine was in ideal condition for bottling.
• In your glass you will be greeted by honey gold colour with a sweet smile around the edge. The botrytis adds its own depth of character to the already generous wine. The aromatics turn nicely into intense flavours of grilled apricots, honeycomb and ripe peaches. The palate is lush, engagingly sweet and simply delicious. Showcasing grilled peaches, sweet honeysuckle and raisins mixed with fresh maple syrup and a fine seam of cinnamon sugar. The palate is beautifully balanced with a wonderful depth of lusciousness. As all of these sweet flavours completely coat your mouth but finishes clean due to a natural core of varietal acidity that lingers with a good amount of lift on the finish.
This 2015 Allan Scott ‘Late Harvest’ Riesling has 9.5% Alc./vol. With 192g/L of residual sugar. Chill gently and serve in an appropriate sweet wine glass at 8°- 10°C.
CELLARING POTENTIAL: *(Review 12/11/20)
Drinking perfectly well this season; plus, should age well for another 7 - 8 years.
FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:
Perfect wine pairing with classic crème brûlée, baked apple tart with vanilla cream, passion-fruit cheesecake, figs & blue cheese, pavlova & strawberries, even poured over Hokey-Pokey ice-cream - enjoy
