Rippon Mature Vine Riesling 2023

Of all the booze we love to drink and flog, Riesling is one of our favourites. And this is an excellent example why. Mature vine fruit is crushed lightly under foot and given skin contact over night. With 3 months on lees, there’s pithy texture and a pleasing amount of weight. Citrusy freshness also remains in abundance. 

Rippon, on the shore of Lake Wanaka, has both a tremendous past and future. Percy Sargood bought the station in 1912, and his great grandson Nick Mills and family continue a legacy of, in Nick’s words, “listening to the land to decide what to grow”. Their ethos is inspiring; biodynamic practices nurture their relationship with the land where they now focus on growing 6 varieties, with vines as many as 40 years old. As we mature as a wine growing country, our wine styles are evolving past being about immediate factors like primary fruit flavour, colour and alcohol. Rippon demonstrates this evolution with wines that are about beautiful texture and shape.