Two Paddocks Riesling 2019.

Two Paddocks Riesling is an estate-grown, single block selection made from fruit grown at Two Paddocks’ Red Bank Vineyard situated in the Earnscleugh district of Alexandra, Central Otago. As in the vineyard, this wine was hand crafted using traditional methods and bottled early to ensure all the integrity and vitality of the wine was preserved. The soils in this block are well draining schist loam and the vines tend to thrive. Additionally the typically extreme summer diurnal temperatures experienced in Alexandra are responsible for both metabolising (softening) acidity during the day and then bright freshness is retained from the significantly cooler nights – all this really means is that we feel a drier and more textural wine style is both possible and appropriate.

JamesSuckling.com Nick Stock Contributing Editor Oct 2019 92 Points

Tasting Notes
Vintage Comment:
Two Paddocks 2018 harvest will be remembered as the earliest picking date on record. A warm spring that quickly turned in to a hot summer with much warmer night time temperatures than are typically experienced in Alexandra. Ideal conditions over flowering, which was a month early, began on the 20th November. Again, perfect growing conditions meant veraison also began a month early on the 20th January. The extreme heat and dry finished abruptly on the 1st February. Cooler temperatures over February / March thankfully slowed ripening down and intensified flavour development. However, harvest still began nearly a month earlier than typical on the 14th March and was over by the 11th April. Both the grapes and stems were beautifully ripe, intensely flavoured and in perfect health.

Winemakers Notes:
Crafted from a tiny half-hectare block at Two Paddocks Red Bank Vineyard at Earnscleugh, Central Otago, which consistently produces the ripest and most intense riesling on the estate. All grapes are grown using organic principles, hand harvested and fermented in stainless steel.