2019 Howard Park Museum Release Riesling, Mount Barker

95 points The Real Review

“Candied grapefruit peel, baking short pastry and cumin spice aromatics.”

Matured at the winery, this museum release is a beautiful expression of resolved, late-lifecycle energy. Opens with complex aromas of baked citrus fruit and dried apricots, with light notes of sweet pastry, warm spice and honey. The wine has shed its youthful edges for dense, luxurious weight: dense, mouth-coating texture, flavours of lemon curd and warming spice, and a gentle yet firm embrace that stretches into a long and harmonious finish.

Bring this bottle to a banquet table centered around classic Cantonese roast goose or duck, or a rich, salt-baked barramundi served with ginger and scallions. The wine’s developed, waxy weight matches the rich texture and melting subcutaneous fat of the roast poultry perfectly, while its underlying structural tension handles the aromatic spice, ensuring it anchors multiple dishes across a shared table without being overwhelmed.

Keeping it casual? Uncork it on a Friday night next to a grazing board of salty, crystal-aged Gouda, roasted walnuts, and a warm, buttery pan-fried onion tart to mirror those beautiful, developing pastry and spice notes.

More about this wine

Howard Park’s Museum Release Riesling is a study in the rewards of patient cellaring.

It is made from the finest cut of free juice from the Mount Barrow vineyard in the Mount Barker sub-regio of Great Southern. The vines here stand on a ridge-top at an elevation of 285 to 370m ins oils of shallow sandy clay loam over ironstone.

Each vineyard block is vinified separately in stainless steel. After settling, the free run juice is racked before a long and cold fermentation to preserve regional character and delicate fruit flavours. Blending occurs in June of the vintage year.

Howard Park is a family-owned winery with more than 40 years of experience in Western Australia’s Margaret River and Great Southern regions. From its 1986 origin in the latter, the estate has grown to five properties: Leston and Allingham in Margaret River, Mount Barrow and Abercrombie in the Great Southern, and Forest View in Pemberton. Each site has a different focus but the overarching theme is control: tailoring each vine and seasonal bud and keeping the fruit and the expertise in-house.

Critic reviews

95 points Jeni Port for Wine Pilot, March 2025

“Six years old and still in youthful flight, how amazing is aged Riesling? Time spent in the cellar in which it was born is always preferable in capturing the integrity and quality of a well-aged Riesling. There is no better place, which is why everything remains so fresh in this little beauty of a Riesling. Highly aromatic aromas, rich and detailed, in jasmine, honeysuckle, lemon balm, lemon drop confection, a splash of herbal Thai basil, grapefruit, lime, pear. Yes, it’s pretty complex. It’s also tightly focused in the acidity department with a firm, steely backbone well in place. There is plenty of room for further ageing with this wine, it is remarkably youthful with a core of citrus, baked apple, spice and pear and sweet herbals, but little sign as yet of secondary development such as notes of honey and toast. An attractive lemon cream texture runs the length of the wine – a lovely feature. Still has time on its side. Drink to 2035.”

95 points Ray Jordan, Wine Review 2026

“One of the great joys in wine is drinking mature rieslings, and this one is excellent, really only just beginning its journey. It still has some primary fruit, but it’s starting to develop those slightly toasty lime characters that become so appealing with mature rieslings. It retains good primary fruit characters on the palate, and the fine, persistent acidity will ensure it continues to evolve over the next few years. An excellent example of an older riesling, with plenty of life still in the tank. Drink to 2036.”

95 points Stuart Knox for The Real Review, May 2025

“Light and bright straw yellow colour. Candied grapefruit peel, baking short pastry and cumin spice aromatics. Great density of grapefruit and tropical fruit, hints of brown spices along the line with fine acidity and some phenolic grip all ensuring length and tension. There’s a subtle sweetness showing but it stays in harmony with the framework. Drink to 2036.”

93 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2025

‘A soft and succulent riesling that leans into its maturity, showing off honeyed elements, toasty notes, dried fruits and sweet spices amongst the last vestiges of freshness in green apple and grapefruity tang. There's a pleasing, assured riesling here, gloss and richness ably lifted with vitality. It is drinking in a good spot now.”