Grosset Springvale Watervale Riesling 2015

The Grosset Springvale Riesling may sit somewhat in the shadow of its Polish Hill sibling but it is in its own right one of the benchmark rieslings of the Clare Valley. It is renowned for its aromatic complexity, pure fruit flavours and mouth-watering slatey acidity. The wine is fresh and mineral, typified by lemon curd, lime and chamomile aromas and generous flavours. A classic acid cut runs through the core, providing superb line and mineral length. The first vintage of the Grosset Springvale Riesling was produced in 1981.

"Classic release. Takes life in its stride, feeling thoroughly unforced from go to whoa, and yet its combination of prettiness, softness, and bursting flavour places it straight in tip top territory. Blossomy citrus, chalk, fennel and steel notes convey the message, but its real class is in the wiring, the surge, the electricity it generates."  Campbell Mattinson

"'Springvale has come into its own' says Jeff, reflecting on his careful choice of site and how the result has been a surprise. 'Springvale covers just 6 hectares of a much larger property at Watervale. Planted to exactly mirror the limestone below, the aim was to produce a typical Watervale riesling. However, as the vines matured and the roots hit Mintaro slate buried deep below the limestone, recent vintages have expressed a unique site-specific, more mineral profile.'

There are attractive lime and lemon blossom aromas with an underlying chalky minerality; a supple mid-palate showing more generosity than its sibling, yet tight and fine, leading to an expressive finish that is vibrant, crisp and has wonderful length. It's neatly balanced, minerally and delightfully dry. Perfect with grilled calamari, white fish or roast chicken salad."  Grosset

Expert reviews

"Classic release. Takes life in its stride, feeling thoroughly unforced from go to whoa, and yet its combination of prettiness, softness, and bursting flavour places it straight in tip top territory. Blossomy citrus, chalk, fennel and steel notes convey the message, but its real class is in the wiring, the surge, the electricity it generates. Drink to: 2030."  Campbell Mattinson, Halliday Wine Companion - 97 points and Special Value Wine  ★ 

"Reminiscent of some of the Polish Hills of yesteryear, this tightly focused and deeply layered riesling reveals a piercingly fragrant bouquet of lime juice, lavender, white peach, pear and apple underpinned by suggestions of chalk dust and tropical fruit. It's mouth-wateringly flavoured with layers of fruit and chalkiness, coating the palate towards its trim, taut and almost bone-dry finish of searingly fresh, nervy citrusy acids. Wonderfully balanced and complete – a true long-term style of purity and texture."  Jeremy Oliver - 97 points

"Bobby dazzler of a wine. Soft and easy-going but strung with tense flavour from the back palate onwards. The finish is a sheer burst of impressive flavour, without being too cutting. It's not a challenging wine. It's a pristine, blossomy, chalky one. Fennel notes add something extra. Classic. Drink 2015-2030."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 96 points

"Deep and intense: concentrated pear fruit. Fruit fruit fruit, in fact; waiting to unwind in the years to come. So powerful, chewy and deep on the tongue too. Super long and mouth-sucking. Needs five years to realise its full potential.”  Tim White, Australian Financial Review – 95(96) points

"A vintage of benchmark line and phenomenal length, creating a fragrant Springvale laced with airy lemon blossom, talc, lime juice and granny smith apple. This is a season of concentration, purity and structure, with a decisive and enduring acid line and mouthfilling mineral texture that captures the limestone and slate subsoils of the highest site in Watervale."  Tyson Stelzer, Wine Business Monthly (WBM) - 95 points

"Palish yellow hue. The aroma is very young and fresh, restrained and minerally, with rocky, almost earthy notes over lemon pith and lemon juice aromas and flavours, which are mouthfilling and voluminous, almost rich and quite concentrated. There's a semblance of sweetness, which is probably just the rich, ripe fruit doing the talking. This has the makings of a superb wine with some age. Drink 2015-2027."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review – 95 points

Awards

Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 

Springvale vineyard 

The Grosset Springvale Vineyard is a six‑hectare, organically certified vineyard situated off Springvale Road in the Clare Valley. It is a hilltop site at one of Watervale's highest elevations (460 metres above sea level), with high exposure to sunlight. The vineyard is part of a much larger property at Watervale, however, the balance of the property is being progressively returned to native vegetation as greater species diversity facilitates natural pest and disease management.

The vineyard is relatively close-planted at 2,500 vines per hectare and produces an average of just two-and-a-half bottles of wine per vine. The vineyard comprises three clones of Riesling, Clone GM110 (tight bunches, floral, Germanic and spiced), Clone 156 (rare clone from Jesuit inspiration, loose bunch, mellow, spiced, limes, steely) and Clone GM198 (most commonly used in Australia; spiced, luscious, generous). The sturdy and resilient vines produce compact yellow-green bunches of moderate sized berries.

The Springvale Vineyard is a unique viticultural site due to its geology, relative isolation and high altitude. The thin topsoils are red loams interspersed with shale over limestone and, atypical for this sub-region,  the vines are deeply rooted into slate bedrock. This formation dates back many hundred million years. There is a north-south fault line on the eastern border that limits the vineyard's expansion.

The cool-fermented Grosset Springvale Riesling is renowned for its aromatic complexity, pure fruit flavours and mouth-watering slatey acidity. The wine is fresh and mineral, typified by lemon curd, lime and chamomile aromas and generous flavours. A classic acid cut runs through the core, providing superb line and mineral length.

 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.