Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling

Riesling & Riesling-based Blends
Pewsey Vale Contours Riesling bottle image
Pewsey Vale Contours Riesling bottle image

POS Materials

Tech Sheet Download Bottle Shot Download Acclaim Linkout

Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling

Riesling & Riesling-based Blends

Pewsey Vale The Contours is characterised by a special site, sensitive vine growing and astute winemaking. The Contours Riesling is produced from old vines farmed on the coolest slope within this ruggedly beautiful single vineyard. Bottle ageing for five years before release transforms this Riesling into a complex wine. More richness and complexity will accumulate over future decades.

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Wine Production

The Pewsey Vale Contours is managed with Organic and Biodynamic farming principals. In keeping with the nature of BD and natural, less interventionist practices the wines were fermented with the natural or ‘wild’ yeast from the vineyard.

Tasting Notes

Pale straw in colour with green hues, there are intense classic lemon fruit aromas, with a hint of white flowers. Bottle aged characters of toast, clove oil and lemon grass have started to emerge. The palate shows great length and depth with concentrated power, pristine fresh lime juice overlaid with toasted brioche, sage oil and lemongrass. The wine finishes with fresh acidity, balancing the flavour intensity. This wine is released in 2017 after 5 years of bottle age, but will gracefully continue to age for many years for those who appreciate bottle aged Riesling

Food Pairing

Try with Foie Gras or duck breast with five spice glaze or fresh gnocchi with olive oil and shaved truffles.

Pewsey Vale The Contours is characterised by a special site, sensitive vine growing and astute winemaking. The Contours Riesling is produced from old vines farmed on the coolest slope within this ruggedly beautiful single vineyard. Bottle ageing for five years before release transforms this Riesling into a complex wine. More richness and complexity will accumulate over future decades.

All Products →

Wine Production

The Pewsey Vale Contours is managed with Organic and Biodynamic farming principals. In keeping with the nature of BD and natural, less interventionist practices the wines were fermented with the natural or ‘wild’ yeast from the vineyard.

Tasting Notes

Pale straw in colour with green hues, there are intense classic lemon fruit aromas, with a hint of white flowers. Bottle aged characters of toast, clove oil and lemon grass have started to emerge. The palate shows great length and depth with concentrated power, pristine fresh lime juice overlaid with toasted brioche, sage oil and lemongrass. The wine finishes with fresh acidity, balancing the flavour intensity. This wine is released in 2017 after 5 years of bottle age, but will gracefully continue to age for many years for those who appreciate bottle aged Riesling

Food Pairing

Try with Foie Gras or duck breast with five spice glaze or fresh gnocchi with olive oil and shaved truffles.

Brand Materials

Tech Sheet Download Bottle Shot Download Acclaim Linkout
97+
“At a decade old, this 2012 The Contours Riesling is superb. Just superb. It sings with creamed honey, honeysuckle, crushed shells, brine, green apple skins and layers of quinine, tobacco leaf and ash. Words are wasted on it. Bottle age has brought this into a magical space. It will easily reach its 20th birthday, and with patience, its 30th too.”
Wine Advocate
95
POINTS
""Still pale straw-green; this wine is not 5 years old, it is 5 years young. It's just starting to build the lime marmalade on buttered toast flavours of full maturity coming another 5, perhaps 10, years down the track. However, it will always have a delicate disposition."
James Halliday
95
POINTS
“If you’d rather not wait 10 years or more before savouring your perfectly cellared bottle of riesling, The Contours – released with five years of bottle age – is a great option. Sourced from a single block planted in 1965, it exhibits lemon curd, white peach and herbaceous flavours, plus a wonderful creamy mouth-feel that has developed over time.”
James Halliday
94
POINTS
“It’s a testament to this extraordinary bone-dry riesling that it’s aged five years before release from the winery. And extraordinary is the right word. Crystalline flavors so precise they take your breath away. Waves of lime, brioche, and exotic spices like cardamom, plus a wet rocky minerality. Australia is well known for dry rieslings of ravishing freshness—especially the Eden and Clare Valleys. Pewsey Vale’s ‘The Contours’ has off-the-charts freshness, as well as layers and layers of complexity. If you’ve never had great New World dry riesling, this is your moment and the wine is a superb deal given the quality.”
Wine Speed
93
POINTS
"Pewsey Vale's 2012 The Contours Museum Reserve Riesling has been released right at the beginning of its maturity. It offers up hints of beeswax, bergamot and lime, with maybe just hints of nectarine and marmalade to balance things out. It's dry and medium-bodied, and shows just how good Eden Valley Riesling can be after a few years of age."
Wine Advocate
“Mature and racy. Very slight TDN but bone dry and toasty.” (16.5 points out of 20)
Jancis Robinson
“Intense lime marmalade with a hint of Riesling’s mature toast and kerosene. Tastes dry but rich, with the intensity and harmony of old vines. Deep and long and so pure even in its early maturity.” (17 out of 20 points)
Jancis Robinson

Vineyard & Production Info

Vineyard name:
Pewsey Vale Vineyard
Soil composition:
grey sandy loam
Elevation:
1,500 feet
Average Vine Age:
47
Certifying Organizations:
ISO14001; Entwine Australia
Sustainability Certification:
EPA Acredited Sustainability Licence

Winemaking & Aging

Prefermentation Technique:
1-4 days on solids before wild yeast start to ferment
Varietal composition:
100% Riesling
Fermentation container:
Stainless steel tanks
Malolactic fermentation:
no
Fining agent:
Vegan
Type of aging container:
bottle
Length of bottle aging:
5 years

Analytical Data

pH level:
3
Acidity:
6.7 g/L
Alcohol:
12.5 %
Residual sugar:
1.8 g/L

About the Vineyard

A warmer than usual winter with lower rainfall; these mild conditions allowed an even bud burst with good shoot growth and fruit set. Rain was welcomed at intervals from November through to harvest, with mild summer conditions and cool nights developing great flavours and acidity. A great Eden Valley Riesling vintage.

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