Magpie Hill Reserve Riesling 2024

Appearance: pale straw, green edges, brilliant

Aroma: green lime blossom, green pineapple, green mango with hints of daffodil, granny smith apple sorbet, bay and sage leaf; powerful orange flower, hints of green papaya, opulent yet fresh and zippy

Palate: white nectarine, peach stone; elegant, long persistence, refined, yet filled out and powerfully present, expansive on fish yet neatly tucked together with whetstone steeliness, open weave yet tight

2024 will be remembered as one of the earliest on record, with our harvest all completed the day before we commenced in 2023! Warm temperatures in late September and October 2023 began to warm soils and accelerated budburst, canopy growth, and flowering, compressing the growing season. This, coupled with warm, dry conditions through February and March, resulted in great flavour and physiological (colour and tannin) ripening, delivering a harvest four weeks ahead of average.

We experienced heat spikes in late January and early February, with some days over 40C, reducing yields and concentrating fruit. With careful canopy management, judicious irrigation strategy, and removal of any substandard fruit, we were able to harvest fruit of exquisite balance and focus, offering intense aromatics, ripe flavours and powerful yet ripe tannins. A rare vintage of immediate deliciousness with a great potential for aging.

Beginning in late February (a month ahead of 2023), the grapes were meticulously hand-harvested, sorted in the early morning, and then delivered to the winery to be chilled overnight at 0C in a cool room. The fruit was whole bunch pressed in a tank press using a sparkling wine cycle with as few rotations as possible to minimise colour and skin tannin pick up. The free-run juice was kept separate from the pressings and fermented in stainless steel at 15C utilising a carefully selected aromatic yeast to preserve floral aromatics. The wine was then aged on lees (grape and yeast solids) for two months before being bottled in June. This was a warm drought year that produced wines of explosive intensity both on the nose and in the mouth yet retained the fresh mineral edge and vibrancy renown for the site. This resulted in a more open weave expression of Riesling yet still with the integrity to age for several decades. A remarkable vintage to behold.