ICONS - Grosset Polish Hill and Springvale Watervale Riesling

Written by Ian Robertson on 28th September 2009

Wine Without Wank presents Icons – the wines that represent the best of breed. Wines that are hailed by the wine world for quality, consistency and flavour. Wines that have a proven track record over the years. Wines that are ICONS.

Click Here For Grosset web site.

Anyone who knows me, has attended a Wine Night with me or has read a little bit of this web site knows one thing about me. I am evangelical about Riesling. The true great white wine grape. So it is amazing that I have lasted this long without penning an Icons article about Australia’s First Family of Riesling – Grosset Polish Hill and Grosset Watervale.

Yes, once again the rare occurrence. To appoint only one of these wines to Icon status and leave the other out would be just plain wrong. Both wines have their own style – both have their own followers – and both are simply divine. It is true to say that aficionados may opine about Polish Hill a little more than Watervale, however for mine both wines reach standards of greatness in what they represent.

So, behind the wines there is the story. It seems amazing to me that Grosset Wines started in 1981 – it seems like a winery that should be even older than this with the status it has reached. Yet, it was in 1981 that Jeffrey Grosset began in the township of Auburn in the Clare Valley. It could be nowhere else – not only did the Clare provide those special sites for the incredible Riesling wines that followed, it also provided sites for a red wine of class and distinction in Gaia. Red wine varietals tend to be forgotten in speaking of the Clare. They of course should not.

Grosset was first noticed for its great Riesling, however it was not long before its driving force would become almost as well known for his opinions. Jeffrey Grosset became a leading figure in the screwcap ‘debate’ in the wine industry in the late 90’s and early 00’s, and it was in the Clare Valley that screwcaps started to appear as the majority rather than the curiosity. Grosset spent a great deal of energy at first defending the move, and then promoting it. He has certainly been proven correct over time. He has also spoken out on the subject of wine regional classification and coming up with a new way of classifying these. Given his continual appearance at the forefront of wine thinking you could be forgiven for thinking that we are speaking about a particularly ‘gung ho’ individual. Yet he is much more considered. Speaking out comes from a place of intellect and maintaining standards of excellence rather than a need to be heard for the sake of it.

The Watervale Riesling comes from Grosset’s Springvale vineyard. A thin crust of top soil over a limestone base, and at the highest point in the Watervale sub region of the Clare, the vineyard produces larger berries than its Polish Hill brother. The style is that of more forward fruit that still retains biting citrus acidity but shows more complex fruit tones than many Rieslings – I often find myself naming all citrus fruits when describing it! The fruit often is the flavour that carries this wine and even as it ages it is more aged or preserved fruit tones that abound.

Polish Hill is on the other side of this equation. Often with a real biting acidity that carries right through the wines core, this maintains very much limey fruit with a structure built on minerality and flintiness. To use words like ‘power’ and ‘fierce’ work to a point when describing this wine, however it cannot be forgotten that this is still a complex and subtle wine. The supposed dichotomy of terms tends to be the way with wines of greatness – using terms that mean the complete opposite of each other to describe them! The vineyard is of course in the Polish Hill River area of Clare, with a poor quality shale based soil that makes the vines work very hard to produce.

Given the slightly unfashionable nature of Riesling, these will more than likely be the two wines where you will find the most value out of any Icons appointed on the site. What other variety will produce wines of such calibre, lauded by wine critics the world over and be sold for less than $50 AU a bottle? (and often for less than $35 AU if you are patient and lucky?)

Put it this way – when I drink for fun and pleasure and want something outstanding, I often open these two wines. What more really needs to be said?

Wine Without Wank reviews Grosset Riesling.