2023 Bird in Hand Riesling

The Bird in Hand Riesling marks our foray into one of Australia’s most coveted cool climate regions for super premium wines – Tasmania.  Our 2023 Riesling is a blend of three carefully chosen parcels from Tasmania’s Tamar Valley and South Australia’s world-renowned Clare Valley.

All parcels are kept separate from picking to blending and are meticulously handled in the winery; handpicked then refrigerated overnight prior to hand sorting. The fruit was then delicately whole bunch pressed, which is the gentlest way to extract the juice from the berries.

 A long, cool fermentation is key in Riesling production. Temperatures are maintained at 14-16 degrees, with the fermentation lasting 13 days. The wine was then left on light lees for 6 weeks and with light fining prior to bottling. The final blend consists of 80% Clare Valley and 20% Tasmania.

The combination of these parcels has created a wine of freshness, elegance and vitality. The resulting wine has a lifted fragrance of kaffir lime, lemon zest, fresh herbs, jasmine and green apple.  On the palate is a marriage of delicacy and power, with a lengthening mineral and acid structure.

Steely minerality from the Clare Valley components and a racy delicateness from the Tasmanian profile with intense citrus flavours, minerality and slight chalkiness acidity and long length of flavour has produced a wine with all the hallmarks to age gracefully over the next 10+ years.

Pairing well with delicate fish and light Asian dishes, the Riesling is a good match to spaghetti vongole or fragrant Vietnamese chicken salad.