Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2003

"This long-lived beautifully aromatic and concentrated wine does much to define great Clare Valley Riesling."  Andrew Caillard MW

The Grosset Polish Hill Riesling is arguably Australia's best Riesling and one of the New World's greatest Rieslings. For many years it has been a benchmark wine for the Clare Valley. The wine possesses wonderful perfume, incredible fruit purity and intensity of flavour, has great finesse and ages spectacularly. The first vintage of the Grosset Polish Hill Riesling was produced in 1981. Langton's classifies Grosset Polish Hill Riesling as 'Exceptional'. Only 17 wines in total make this grade, of which only 3 are white wines. 

"The 2003 Polish Hill Riesling is an exemplary Clare riesling, whose intense, musky, rose garden perfume of apples, pears and lime juice reveals an underlying fragrance of wet slate and mineral. Concentrated and exceptionally long, it's searingly intense and citrusy, with forward, open flavours with a soft, juicy palate over a slatey foundation. Superbly fashioned, culminating in an austere, persistent and slightly chalky finish."  Jeremy Oliver

"The 2003 Polish Hill Riesling is an outstanding example of this Australian classic. It has fragrant, floral aromas with hints of lime and lemon essence, is vibrant and juicy on the palate with a squeeze of tangy lime juice and distinctive minerality. As ever, the structure is tight and the wine is characteristically lean and steely with crisp, piercing acidity. There is also a touch of lime towards the end of that long, bone dry finish. It has more obvious weight, richness and concentration of flavour, is more generous now than usual and with minerality that lingers in a fashion rarely seen in rieslings outside Europe. Drink now to fifteen years."  Grosset

Expert reviews

"Grosset is most reluctant to compare the 2002 and 2003 vintages in quality terms, because the weather (and the resulting style) was so different: the 2002s have exceptional finesse and length, the 2003s amazing mid to back palate flavour and character. But, overall, he says 2002 has to be seen as the one-in-20-year vintage it was, a truly great year. While I do not - could not - disagree, I am bowled over by the 2003 Polish Hill, intense, fine and long, with beautiful acidity and fantastic mouthfeel. The much richer, rounder 2003 Watervale more obviously fits the vintage mould. At the end of the day, it matters not which vintage or which vineyard you prefer. These are great wines made by a master. Drink by 2015."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 97 points 

"Exemplary Clare riesling, whose intense, musky, rose garden perfume of apples, pears and lime juice reveals an underlying fragrance of wet slate and mineral. Concentrated and exceptionally long, it's searingly intense and citrusy, with forward, open flavours with a soft, juicy palate over a slatey foundation. Superbly fashioned, culminating in an austere, persistent and slightly chalky finish. Drink: 2015-2023."  Jeremy Oliver - 96 points

"A very similar wine to this year's Mesh, this is another wonderful Polish Hill riesling, with apple and lime-leaf and blossomy pear flavours all showing themselves – all built on the slatey backbone that characterises the label. It's restrained and yet generous, with the flavours swirling and mingling together into one – it's gorgeous, with flare and finesse to burn. Drink: Now-2014."  Campbell Mattinson, Winefront Monthly - 94 points

Polish hill vineyard 

The Grosset Polish Hill Vineyard is an eight‑hectare, organically certified vineyard in the Clare Valley. The vineyard is named after the nearby Hill River Settlement established by Polish immigrants in the 1840s. The vineyard is relatively close-planted and comprises three clones of Riesling, two German and one rare local clone, and produces an average of just two bottles of wine per vine.

Located on a hard rock site at an elevation of 460-480 metres, the gently sloping vineyard sits on silt and shallow shales over a thin crust of clay and gravel, on top of a bed of blue slate estimated to be 500 million years old. The vines struggle to draw nutrients from the soil, so the bunches and berries are small and thick skinned. This vineyard exemplifies how old-rock profiles can contribute to a wine's character.  

The vines are dry-grown on a modified ballerina trellising system, and completely hand tended and organically farmed. A major challenge of this site is the variability in vigour from one vine to the next. This demands more intense labour input and hand-tending skill – varied to suit each vine – to achieve balanced vine growth and even fruit ripening. Vintage takes place in early April, normally a few weeks later than the Springvale Vineyard in Watervale.

"The Grosset Polish Hill Riesling has incredible perfume and fruit purity, the lime/floral fruit profile balanced by a fine cut of acidity. This long-lived beautifully aromatic and concentrated wine does much to define great Clare Valley Riesling."  Andrew Caillard MW

 The four Grosset estate-owned vineyards

About Jeffrey Grosset

"Jeffrey Grosset wears the unchallenged mantle of Australia's foremost riesling maker. Grosset's pre-eminence is recognised both domestically and internationally."  James Halliday

Grosset was 15 when his father, an electrician, came home with a bottle of wine and shared it with the family. It was riesling and Jeffrey was gobsmacked. So began the Grosset story. The following year Jeffrey enrolled at Roseworthy Agricultural College, completing an Agriculture degree in 1973 and an Oenology degree in 1975. At the age of 21 Jeffrey started work at Seppelt Great Western, before heading to a German winery with a 1000-tonne crush as assistant winemaker, only to find the chosen French winemaker had changed his mind, leaving Grosset in charge. He subsequently returned to Australia and worked at Lindeman's Karadoc winery with its 30,000-tonne crush. But ultimately he wanted to start his own label.

In 1981 Jeffrey purchased an old milk depot in the historic township of Auburn 1981 and established Grosset Wines. He produced four wines that vintage under his own label, 800 dozen bottles in total. Now, 42 years later, Grosset is regarded as arguably the best maker of riesling in Australia and produces nine wines and 11,000 bottles per vintage. 

Grosset is not shy about challenging tradition and questioning accepted practices. In the late 1980s, he was the leader of a successful movement to only allow the use of the word Riesling on Australian wines that were made specifically from the Riesling grape. Until that point, a significant number of Australian wines with Riesling on their label were made from other grape varieties. 

Grosset was also the driving force behind a decision in 2000 by Clare Valley Riesling producers to switch to screwcap closures for their wines and to encourage Australian and New Zealand winemakers to do the same, and for the public, retailers and media to embrace the change. He continues to privately fund research into the subject.

Next, he established the Grosset Gaia Fund, donating to charities supporting youth, the arts and the environment. Recently he has led the way for Australian winemakers to use blockchain technology for verification of product provenance, authenticity and seal integrity.

Jeffrey Grosset has received a great deal of local and international recognition for his winemaking. In 1998, he was the first recipient of "Australian Winemaker of the Year" from Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine and was named the "International Riesling Winemaker of the Year" at the Riesling Summit in Hamburg, Germany. He was nominated in 2005 as one of the world's "50 Most Influential Winemakers" by Wine & Spirits and in 2006, named as one of the "Top 10 White Winemakers" in the world by Decanter magazine. 

Grosset's philosophy has remained steadfast over the years, the emphasis is on purity of fruit. The estate vineyards, which are ACO certified organic, are hand-tended and each bunch of grapes is harvested at optimum ripeness. The winemaking process is gentle and uncomplicated. With dedication, discipline and the application of knowledge garnered through decades of experience, the result is the finest expression of variety and place.