Alkoomi’s new superb Melaleuca Riesling 2016

Alkoomi Melaleuca Riesling 2016

Alkoomi. The quiet achievers. Still doing their own thing, and carving out a reputation that is more biased towards value rather than a push for super premium glory.

But this new Riesling is different. It’s the first time that Alkoomi have elevated a release of their Riesling into the quality stratosphere, yet it seems like something that should have always been a part of their range. Quality-wise it easily delivers too.

Strictly speaking it’s quite conventional in it’s makeup. All free run juice, some time on lees and then bottled without fining. But the joy here is the purity – delicate lemon and grapefruit, the palate coiled around a driving, almost crunchy natural grapefruit acidity that that lingers on and on.

While you could very well see this as almost overtly tight, that crystalline acidity is wonderful (and delicious) and the length remarkable.

Well done.

Best drinking: 2016-2030. 18.5/20, 94/100. 12.5%, $34. Would I buy it? Sure would.