Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling Reviews

Max Allen

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2020

BEST WINES FROM THE 2020 VINTAGE

There’s an aromatic quality I often find in young, fresh Clare Valley Riesling that reminds me of the botanical refreshment of a perfect gin and tonic at the end of a hot day: a combination of lime and herbs and a satisfying whisper of bitterness – like grapefruit pith – that is utterly delicious and more-ish. And I found that character in spades in this great example of riesling from Stephanie Toole’s vineyard in Watervale sub-region of Clare. Lovely now, but will also age brilliantly in the cellar.

By Max Allen
The Financial Review
November 2020

The Real Review

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2020

95 points

Tremendous fragrance of frangipani, star jasmine, wonderfully talcum powdery and varietal in the extreme. The palate is very delicate, light-bodied and refined. It seems lower in alcohol than 13%. Very subtle and moreish. A keeper

By Huon Hooke

The Real Review

21^st September 2020

Halliday Wine Companion

2019 Mount Horrocks Riesling

95 Points

This offers the commodity in short supply in ’19: finesse. Or, if you prefer, elegance. It has all the varietal flavours that make Riesling what it is – mouthwatering, vibrant, crisp and long – riding high on a magic carpet.

By James Halliday

1^st December 2019

WBM Magazine

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2019

By Tyson Stelzer

94 points

A cool harvest has maintained fantastic tension and energy in this dry, low-yielding season, making for a Mount Horrocks of concentration, impact and poise. A brilliant cut of acidity drives a palate of magnificent line and length, with enticing appeal and head-turning presence from day one, loaded with potential for a long future.

WBM Magazine

November/December 2020

Best Buys – Gourmet Traveller WINE

2019 Mount Horrocks Riesling

BEST BUYS

The name of subregion where this riesling is grown is Watervale, and perhaps that’s why I find it so mouthwatering upon each sip of every new vintage – the power of suggestion. Or maybe it’s because the vines planted in perfect red-soil-over-limestone terroir, are grown organically, and in 2019 yielded small crops of grapes that were meticulously handled by winemaker Stephanie Toole. Either way this wine is deeply moreish: perfumed, lime juicy, intense, mineral, driven.

By Max Allen

December/January 2020

WBM Magazine

2018 Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling

By Tyson Stelzer

95 Points 

Stunning. Unites the concentration and confidence of a dry, low-yielding season with the tension and enduring poise of a long, cool ripening window. It’s a precise and glorious union of kaffir lime, granny smith apple and lemon, with the subtle exoticism of guava. With lingering persistence, exacting line, fine limestone minerality and high-tensile acidity, this is one of the greats, with a glorious life before it.

WBM Magazine

Jan/Feb 2019

Wine of the Week

Mount Horrocks 2018 Watervale Riesling

By Winsor Dobbin

Riesling is my “go to” grape for spring and summer quaffing – and this new Clare Valley release is right in the grove; fresh, vibrant and citrusy with minerality and crisp acid finish. There is plenty of length to this estate-grown single vineyard riesling from Watervale and all Stephanie Toole’s wines are certified organic and are vegan friendly. This is bone dry and would pair brilliantly with fresh oysters, pan-fried King George whiting, or simply on the deck with some Justin Isbell on the stereo.

Damn fine drinking. Drink now or cellar.

gourmetontheroad.blogspot.com

October 2018

100 Best Australian Wines 18/19

2017 Mount Horrocks, Watervale Riesling

By Matthew Jukes

This is my favourite vintage of Stephanie Toole’s dry Riesling in years! The slender, rapier sharp fruit is epic with pithy, chalky notes and no overt juiciness whatsoever. It is a very grown up and stripped down style and this makes it ravishing. The scent is pure and much more intense than the pale colour suggests and I have no doubt it will age very gently and for a long time.

100 Best Australian Wines 2018/2019

May 2018

Winefront

2017 Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling

By Campbell Mattinson

94 Points

Single vineyard Riesling from one of the absolute stars of the Clare Valley region. In fact – I’d reckon this riesling doesn’t get quite the recognition it deserves. Exhibit A. This is a beautiful Clare Valley riesling. It screams Clare, it insists on riesling. Lemon, lime and talc, assertive with flavour but pure and darting through the finish. Accessible now, in a delicious way, and yet made for later. You really do just want to guzzle this, even as you admire it.

www.winefront.com.au

October 2017

Gourmet on the Road, Winsor Dobbin

Mount Horrocks 2017 Watervale Riesling

Stephanie Toole is something of a riesling whisperer, producing cracking wines vintage after vintage, albeit from the stellar Watervale region of the Clare Valley. This is estate grown and certified organic, but what counts most is expressions of flavour and regionality that burst onto your palate. This is freshness vinified and from a stellar vintage; made without acid additions or fining, and vegan and vegetarian friendly. Think fresh-cut citrus explosions, bright acidity and remarkable length. Pair with veggie spring rolls.

By Winsor Dobbin

www.gourmetontheroad.blogspot.com

James Halliday Wine Companion 2018

Watervale Riesling 2017

95 Points

A riesling of the kind John Vickery might have made with the benefit of screwcaps. It has depth and attitude (like its maker), but doesn’t run the risk of blowing out/softening with age. Its balance and storehouse of limes, lemons and green apples make it a surefire each way bet, now or later.

By James Halliday

Wines to Enjoy New Years Eve

2016 Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling

By Tony Love

This Clare Valley classic offers a little more than straight citrus, with smells of meadow hay and orchard flowers to start before that suck of a lemon quarter and exotic zest of lime.  This is, however, a warm summer’s day refreshment that is more than simply razored acidity.  Best if you have a bucket of prawns to nibble at while you’re sipping away.

Tony Love – The Advertiser

January 2017