Vickery Eden Valley Riesling 2015

"John Vickery is in the same league as Max Schubert and other great winemakers, most of whom are known for their reds."  Jeffrey Grosset 

John Vickery is the acknowledged old master of Riesling in Australia, with an illustrious career spanning nearly sixty years. In that time, he amassed an extraordinary awards tally of more than fifty Trophies and over four hundred Gold Medals. John came out of retirement to consult when the Vickery brand was established in 2014. Current winemaker Keeda Zim, who joined Vickery in 2019, continues to showcase John's extensive expertise with the variety and maintain the brand's enviable track record.

"The 2015 Eden Valley Riesling is toasty and spicy on the nose, with lanolin, pressed flowers, crushed rocks and brine. In the mouth, the wine is elegant and complete, offering us a full view of aged, fresh, dry Riesling, with the width and toastiness that only comes from time in the bottle. This is a superb wine that offers so much pleasure here today. There's plenty of time left in this bottle, so it's likely the 10-year drinking window provided here is needlessly conservative."  Erin Larkin (Tasted Jul 2025)

Expert reviews

"Tasted as part of a 10 year vertical from 2015 to 2024. All beautiful wines - the quality across the range was something to behold; not a dud in the line-up. This, together with 2021 and 2017, were the clear favourites in the room. The 2015 has opened up beautifully, offering lovely florals, citus and a tickle of spice. The palate is wonderfully detailed and refined, framed in a web of spring-fresh acidity. A classic Eden Valley riesling that can be drunk with confidence over the next decade."  Nick Munday, Canterbury Wines - 96 points and Special Value Wine  ★  (Tasted Jun 2025)

"The 2015 Eden Valley Riesling is toasty and spicy on the nose, with lanolin, pressed flowers, crushed rocks and brine. In the mouth, the wine is elegant and complete, offering us a full view of aged, fresh, dry Riesling, with the width and toastiness that only comes from time in the bottle. This is a superb wine that offers so much pleasure here today. There's plenty of time left in this bottle, so it's likely the 10-year drinking window provided here is needlessly conservative. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink: 2025-2035."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 96 points (Tasted Jul 2025)

"A collaboration between famed riesling winemaker John Vickery and new-er gun riesling maker Phil Lehmann. EVR103ZV. You have to admire the pitch of this. It suggests at power without ever bragging about it. It sizzles with a slatey dryness though the finish, but in the lead-up there’s plenty of citrussy/blossomy flavour to tuck into. Perhaps even a crunch of apple too. It’s quite terrific. Drink: 2015-2030."  Gary Walsh, The Wine Front - 95 points

"Beautifully refined style. Gives generosity both a nod and a wink via juicy/blossomy lemon and lime flavours, but then drills down to a dry, slatey, talc-like finish. Right in the zone. Drink by 2030."  Campbell Mattinson, Halliday Wine Companion - 95 points and Special Value Wine  ★ 

Awards

Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 
Special Value Wine – Canterbury Wines  ★

John Vickery

John Vickery is the acknowledged old master of Riesling in Australia, with an illustrious career spanning nearly sixty years, culminating in the extraordinary awards tally of more than fifty Trophies and over four hundred Gold Medals.

John Vickery has been instrumental in shaping the history of Riesling in Australia. Working his first vintage back in 1951, John Vickery built his illustrious career around strict attention to detail and old-fashioned hard work. His fastidious nature and particular ways are legendary and an integral part of greatness.

His mastery began with Leo Buring in 1955 at Chateau Leonay winery, where the focus was on Eden Valley and Watervale fruit. Without any modern-day processing, equipment winemaking was quite a crude process, which shows true testament to his outstanding ability. Vickery’s hallmark approaches were cool fermentation and careful handling, so it was in the latter years with the introduction of refrigeration and airbag presses, that John was best able to capture the Riesling grape’s fine delicate flavours.

With more than fifty Trophies, over four hundred Gold Medals and a Jimmy Watson for good measure, John Vickery is recognized as an inspiration and benchmark for many young (and old) winemakers. Highlights of his career include winning the 2007 Wolf Blass Riesling Award at the Canberra International Riesling Challenge. He was humbled to be judged by his peers as Australia’s Greatest Living Winemaker in a survey conducted by Epicure in 2003. However, he considers his most rewarding contribution to the Australian Wine Industry is being the first to re-introduce the screw cap with the 1998 Richmond Grove Watervale and Barossa Rieslings. This was by any measure the single most significant event in the improvement in the quality of Australian Riesling. In 2007 John was awarded the Medal of Order of Australia for 'service to the wine industry as an oenologist, particularly through the development of innovative methods for Riesling production.'

About Vickery Wines

Although John Vickery is in his mid-80s and retired for many years, his name endures on the labels of riesling wines produced by the Hesketh family’s WD Wines group. John Vickery, Robert Hesketh and the late Peter Lehmann were all close friends and contemporaries as well as business associates. When Peter's son Philip Lehmann was winemaker for WD Wines, the Vickery brand was created and John Vickery was invited to consult. The first wine released under the Vickery label was the 2014 Watervale Riesling and since then a Clare Valley and Eden Valley Riesling have been made each year.

Today Vickery Wines is John's winemaking experience partnered alongside the talented winemaking team of Keeda Zim and Andrew Hardy. Together they create Rieslings that showcase John's extensive expertise with the variety.

"The wines are made very much in the Vickery style." says Hesketh. "That means absolute flavour. John is massive on flavour. He believes most of the flavour is in the pressings, so some pressings are put back into the wine after the primary free-run fermentation. Light pressings, not heavy. So there’s less austerity in a Vickery wine. John is also a stickler for detail, he’s pedantic about quality and attention to detail."

Vickery in his heyday was also known to be almost fanatical about cleanliness; winery hygiene was scrupulous. Every drip of wine had to be cleaned up pronto. Vickery may have slowed down a bit, but he’s still involved in the process, particularly picking dates and blending.

"John has been involved in every vintage. He loves going into the vineyards and discussing picking times. He’s also involved in the blending with the winemakers, Keeda Zilm and Andrew Hardy. The Vickery wines are more about how John does things, which is inevitably different to the way Andrew or Keeda does things. Both have made a lot of riesling in their time, Hardy at Knappstein, then Petaluma, and Zilm at O’Leary Walker. But, with the Vickery wines, the man himself still calls the shots."

Large sections of the above text were taken from an article by Huon Hooke in the Real Review titled "Vickery the riesling master". 

Sadly, John Vickery,  the father of Riesling in Australia, died on 23rd September 2023 at the age of 90.