Sons of Eden Freya Riesling 2009

Sons of Eden is a partnership between Simon Cowham (one of Australia's most accomplished vignerons) and Corey Ryan (one of Australia's most accomplished winemakers). They make a formidable team and their exceptional skill and experience are expressed in the Sons of Eden Wines. Named in "Ten of the Best" by James Halliday in his 2010 Wine Companion."

"The purity of the wine reflects hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed grapes from a single vineyard, then cool fermented; comes into full focus on the soaring finish and lingering aftertaste."  James Halliday

Simon nurtures the vines that are used in some of the Eden/Barossa valley iconic wines. Indeed, 98% of the crop is sought after by the likes of Henschke, Yalumba and Torbreck. Only 2% of the crop (mostly old vineyards) is selected for Corey to craft into exquisite wines of considerable flavour, complexity and length. It is hard to imagine a better pedigree behind any wine label.

"The estate-grown wines are of outstanding quality” - James Halliday

"Lemon zest and citrus characters are backed by fine crisp acidity and a classic steely finish typical of great dry Eden Valley Riesling.

Vintage 2009: Coming off an average winter and growing season the Riesling vines were well-balanced with average crop levels and good shoot length. From veraison to harvest the weather was perfect for Riesling flavour development with a lengthy period of mild daytime temperatures and classic cool Eden Valley nights."  Sons of Eden

Expert reviews

"The purity of the wine reflects hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed grapes from a single vineyard, then cool fermented; comes into full focus on the soaring finish and lingering aftertaste. Screwcap. Drink Now-2020."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 94 points

About the winery

When winemaker Corey Ryan and multi-skilled viticulturist Simon Cowham established Sons of Eden in 2000, they already had years of experience in South Australia's Barossa and Eden Valleys.

Ryan has racked up more than 25 Barossa vintages and worked in New Zealand with Villa Maria Estates; he was awarded 2007 New Zealand Winestate Winemaker of the Year. Back home, he was a 2016 finalist in Gourmet Traveller Wine's Australian Winemaker of the Year. But it was his time as a winemaker at Henschke that lit his fire for the Eden Valley.

Cowham's early days included selling OddBins wines in its glory days, returning from England to work for the Winemakers' Federation of Australia. He switched to grape growing by qualifying as a viticulturist and joining Yalumba as manager of its Heggies and Pewsey Vale vineyards in the mid-'90s. In 2013, Barons of Barossa anointed him Barossa Winemaker of the Year. He, too, has 25-plus Barossa vintages under his belt.

More than 25 vineyard sites across the Barossa and Eden Valleys supply fruit to Sons of Eden: 10 are directly managed and operated by the label, the rest are supplied by handshake agreements with their loyal generational growers. The success of the arrangement is demonstrated by three Most Successful Exhibitor awards from the Barossa Wine Show, two Winewise Small Vigneron Awards and an unbroken annual stream of five-red-star ratings from 2012 to now.