2015 Dry River, Craighall Riesling, Martinborough

Dry River was established in 1979 by Dr Neil and Dawn McCallum and was one of Martinborough’s first wineries. Named for one of South Wairarapa’s earliest sheep stations, Dry River rests on the very arid, gravelly, free-draining soils near the Ruamahunga River, an area known as the Martinborough Terrace. The Craighall vineyard was first planted in 1983 and provides linear structure and acidity to the wines. Lucky for us, it is one of the first New Zealand Riesling we tasted and it made a big impression on us!  Why do we like it? The wine really benefits from bottle aging, this 2015 is intense and focused, with honeysuckle, lime, and peachy character, but doesn’t verge into the austere acidity of the Clare Valley style. It’s a rich style of Riesling with a great mouthfeel of fruits and plenty of acidity to balance the wine, in some way it is also fun and frivolous.    Grape           Riesling Country        New Zealand                              Region          Martinborough                         Vintage         2015