Sali’s Block Riesling 2023
Significant Awards: Gold Medal CWSA 2018
“Offering purity and finesse, the wine shows white flesh nectarine, rockmelon, lemon/lime peel and jasmine aromas on the nose, followed by an elegantly weighted palate that's focused and lingering. Gorgeously complemented by attractive sweetness and vibrant acidity, finishing long and harmonious. Style: Medium-dry. At its best: 2025 2035. ***** 94/100 “
Sam Kim. Wine Orbit. Nov 2023
Buy a case (12 bottles) to get 12% discount - If you would like to organise a mixed case please email kevin@riverbyestate.com and we can put together a special order.
Significant Awards: Gold Medal CWSA 2018
“Offering purity and finesse, the wine shows white flesh nectarine, rockmelon, lemon/lime peel and jasmine aromas on the nose, followed by an elegantly weighted palate that's focused and lingering. Gorgeously complemented by attractive sweetness and vibrant acidity, finishing long and harmonious. Style: Medium-dry. At its best: 2025 2035. ***** 94/100 “
Sam Kim. Wine Orbit. Nov 2023
Buy a case (12 bottles) to get 12% discount - If you would like to organise a mixed case please email kevin@riverbyestate.com and we can put together a special order.
Significant Awards: Gold Medal CWSA 2018
“Offering purity and finesse, the wine shows white flesh nectarine, rockmelon, lemon/lime peel and jasmine aromas on the nose, followed by an elegantly weighted palate that's focused and lingering. Gorgeously complemented by attractive sweetness and vibrant acidity, finishing long and harmonious. Style: Medium-dry. At its best: 2025 2035. ***** 94/100 “
Sam Kim. Wine Orbit. Nov 2023
Buy a case (12 bottles) to get 12% discount - If you would like to organise a mixed case please email kevin@riverbyestate.com and we can put together a special order.
The 2023 vintage in Marlborough turned out to be exceptional, producing grapes and then wine of incredible quality, although it certainly didn’t always look that way. Spring 2022 started with good weather leading to a successful flowering and reasonable bunch numbers. From January onwards the weather was quite mixed, with showers and inconsistent temperatures, however the grapes came through in good order and the last two weeks prior to harvest had perfect conditions for slow, perfect ripening with cool nights and warm days.
The grapes for this wine come from the Sali’s Block part of our vineyard. Vines that are now mostly 32 years old. The grapes were harvested in the cool of the night on 30 March 2023, one of our latest harvests in recent times. The wine was fermented and handled in stainless steel with 19 grams of residual sugar retained to give us our classical “Sali’s Block style. It was bottled on 1 August 2023.
Light straw, pale lemon in colour, it has a compelling floral nose of frangipani, honeysuckle and jasmine, with ripe stone fruit, red apples and citrus. The palate is luscious and mouth filling with tropical mango, peach, nectarine, guava and lychee. There are spicy citrus characters, lime and tangerine, and crisp red apples. It is an elegant, refreshing wine, delicate and juicy with crisp acidity and an appealing splash of sweetness.
It has a long, lingering, attractive finish and promises to age gracefully for several years.
Technical Notes
Alcohol: 11.2%, Acidity: 7.1, PH: 3.1, Residual Sugar: 19 g/l.
Significant Awards
Silver Medal NZIWS 2023. 93/100 Canberra Riesling Challenge 2023
Reviews
Ultra reliable, just off-dry Riesling, this comes from a dedicated block of the Riverby vineyard. Slate and wet river stones, with a very delicate waxiness. Yellow apple and lime fruit, something a little floral too? Peachy sweet as it strikes the palate, but bracing acidity slices through that fruit juiciness and sweetness. Rounded and creamy-textured, it's both sophisticated and crowd-pleasingly delicious. 91/100
Tom Cannavan. Wine-pages.com March 2024
Tasted blind, there seems some familial likeness to the previous wine. Fragrant with apple, fruit jube, white flowers & honey. Those characters continue on the palate, a little fruit cordial too while a chalky phenolic hints adds to the textural interest. The fruit sweetness builds but this remains just off-dry with a lovely tangy contrast to the close. Lots of flavour, nicely done. Excellent.
Mark Henderson. ODT. February 2024