Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Riesling 2009 Great Western, Australia

Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Wallflower Riesling 2009 Great Western in the West of Australia, south of Margaret River, a cool climate area.. Larry Cherubino was named by James Halliday 2011 Wine Companion as Winery of the Year, he is careful about how he grows his grapes, canopy management, little intervention and watering selectively as well as picking at night to preserve the quality of the grapes, and he produces a range of wines from delicate whites to heavy hitting reds!Larry Cherubino
After picking the grapes are de stemmed and only the free run juice is used for this wine, natural yeasts are used and a long cool fermentation is allowed - this leads to a good flavour palate.

Great Southern is aptly named, as it is pounded by the Southern Ocean and is renowned for its dramatic cliffs, white sandy beaches and bays and is steeped in the history of early European settlement.  The region is vast and diverse, extending 150 kilometres north to south and 100 kilometres east to west. It ranges from the coastal, maritime subregions of Albany and Denmark to the inland, continental subregions of Mount Barker, Porongurup and Frankland River. In these circumstances it is indeed surprising that there is such a degree of coherence in the wine styles produced

Continental influence takes over as you move inland and temperature variability increase significantly, in general terms the climate of the more northern areas is slightly warmer on the higher sites. Though rainfall is greater and relative humidity increases in the south around Denmark, heat summation and sunshine hours do not change greatly, so careful site selection allows the production of virtually every wine style.

Riesling:  Riesling vies with Cabernet Sauvignon as the most important wine from the region. The wines age superbly, seldom reaching the peak of their development in less than ten years. As well as being crisp and lean in youth, the wines still have intense flavour, typically in the citrus spectrum with an underlay of herbs.
This Riesling was a lovely medium pale straw, the aroma had lime skin, peaches and a little kerosene ( and at 3 years old - I was surprised....) along with a definate mineral edge, this came through again on the palate and the clean fresh zesty fruit had a pithy finish with great length, the alcohol was merely supportive of the delicate and carefully crafted wine, this is a wine that could age well in bottle - and is only part of the way through its journey - Enjoy! It can be found at Wine Direct at a cost of £14 per bottle if buying a case.
Score : 86