2019 Vickery Reserve Watervale Koerner G1 & G4 Block Riesling, Clare Valley

There’s a brightness, freshness and energy in the Watervale Riesling that is quite exciting. There’s the merest hint of age emerging as you work through brisk, bright flavours of custard apple, mandarin skin, a touch of buttered toast and enveloping citrus. There’s a developing complexity here so it’s starting to reveal itself

96 points Jeni Port winepilot.com.au

Such an interesting Riesling. So much body and such good intensity…. It’s textural too. It tastes of lime leaf, lemon, gravel, wet slate and orange blossom….it’s just the body of it, the way it balloons in the mouth drink now to 2027+

94 points Campbell Mattinson winefront.com.au

For their 2019 ‘Reserve’ Watervale, the team has sourced two parcels of fruit from the Koerner vineyard, Blocks G1 and G4. They were kept separate as they were considered extra special and worthy of Reserve status. Who would know this better than Australia’s master Riesling craftsman, John Vickery? The Reserve wines get an extra two years ageing prior to release to assist in building complexity and to enable the early signs of development to form, but this wine certainly has many years to go and is delightfully fresh at the moment.

Pale straw/lemon in colour, with flecks of green, this is powerful and punchy. Notes of florals and even a touch of nettles, dry herbs, a hint of chalk and bright citrus. There is a minerally undertow and steely acidity here, serious paper cut acidity. Fine balance, this wine has a good 12 to 15 years ahead of it – wonderful Riesling. In a decade, the pittance you will have paid now will seem like the bargain of the century.

94 points Ken Gargett winepilot

"He’s in the same league as Max Schubert and other great winemakers, most of whom are known for their reds." Jeffrey Grosset

Vickery Wines is the culmination of John Vickery's half-century of winemaking experience, partnered alongside family friend and talented winemaker Phil Lehmann. Together they create Rieslings that showcase John's extensive expertise with the most noble of white wine varieties.

It begins in the regions where John made his mark. Eden Valley in the Barossa and Watervale in the Clare Valley. It goes further into the sub-districts of these regions that John knows intimately, and partnering with growers who have the right vineyards in the right locations to produce the best possible fruit. Once fruit is picked at optimum ripeness, Phil and John employ the winemaking techniques that he has refined and perfected over time, to craft Rieslings that carry his signature style and fastidious quality standards.

The Vickery label is in effect, a time capsule for John's wealth of winemaking knowledge. It allows his experience and winemaking techniques to be used without compromise, and then passed on to current and future generations of Riesling winemakers.