Frankland Estate Alter Weg Riesling 2019

97 Points Mike Bennie, Winefront.

Buried deep in the heart of Western Australia’s most isolated wine region, Frankland Estate is as much apart of its natural landscape as it is a winery.

All riesling grapes are harvested as cool as possible and pressed immediately, slow press cycles allow for soft and long extraction. Blocks and picks are kept separate and some juice from most blocks is fermented in barrel format for interest and comparison purposes. Picking decisions are made on ripeness and fruitfulness, with the main aim of working with natural balance yet intentionally look for greater ripeness with this wine and as a result greater degree of phenolic influence and texture. Juice is sent to tank to settle overnight (without enzyme or any additions). A cloudy juice is run to a combination of 1000ltr and 500ltr barrels. Fermentation is spontaneous and temperature controlled to some degree but temperature range is generally higher than tank fermentations. Post fermentation barrels are topped and left un-sulphured through to spring time quite often if residual sugars are high fermentation will be left to start again in spring as juice warms. Sulphur will be introduced when a decision is made on the vitality/fruitfulness of the wine and residual sugar is seen to be in balanced with the wine. Wine was left in barrel for 10 months (January)

“Playful golden colour in the glass. Apple pie scents, lime juice, sandalwood and warm wet slate. Beautiful thing to sniff on. Grip and pucker in texture but so very fine, so precise, and all up so moreish and incredibly good to drink. Concentrated but light flavours, a sense of minerality strong and woven through the wine through a very long and mount-watering finish. Upper echelon riesling here. Such filigree and finesse. Ludicrous price for how good it is” – 97 Points Mike Bennie, Winefront.