RICHARD SAYS
2025 Leo Buring DWC 17 Leonay Riesling
Eden Valley, South Australia
RRP $40, ABV 10.5%
Riesling truly reflects its site, with no scope to hide imperfections or shortcuts. When grown in the right place, with restrained yields, a kind season, and care to let the fruit shine (eg free-run juice), and no oak – bingo!
Very different Rieslings are made in Germany, Alsace, Austria, and within Australia, winners come from South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, and Canberra. Dry, sweet or in-between – even sparkling!
Leo Buring is an old brand where winemaking legend John Vickery inspired many; Leonay is their best wine – from Clare or Eden Valley.
This young wine is very pale – fresh lime, lemongrass, plus apple come to the party – and stay – along with flintiness. The palate is graceful, dry, bracing, twangy, tangy, thriving, and tenacious.
Riesling (in general) is a bargain; but this wine is “next level” – the pinnacle – worth paying extra to savour just how expressive and stunning.
Next? It will easily cellar for twenty years. But Riesling’s charms include early approachability – so floral and crisp – ageing adds honeyed and more textural richness. It’s a great food match for chicken (roast, stir- fry) or pork chops, or seafood in almost any guise – with the power to withstand curry or strong Asian flavours. The question becomes – is that bottle empty already?
GRANT SAYS
Sanguine Estate Heathcote Fiano 2025
RRP $33, ABV 14%
On the last day of 2025, my wife and I took a drive out to the very quaint town of Heathcote for a spot of cellar door visits. Sanguine Estate’s new tasting room is a perfect blend of elegance and homeliness. Welcoming and classy but far from pretentious. We parked up at the bench with some selections of cured meats, cheeses and crackers while our host took us through their impressive range. Fiano is indigenous to Campania in the south west of Italy so the grape is capable of thriving in warmer climates. Although a new variety for Sanguine, it’s well suited to Heathcote. This Fiano is stylistically accurate and provides a medium body with textural palate weight yet its minerally core ensures balance and drive. With extra lees stirring during its time in seasoned oak, a lovely mealy note sits alongside fresh fruit notes of honeydew, white peach, lychee and subtle rockmelon. It’ll develop some lovely tertiary notes with some careful medium term cellaring and I’ll be very interested to try this wine again in three to five years.
Pair with: Prosciutto and rockmelon salad with honey mustard dressing.
