2021 Howard Park Museum Release Riesling, Great Southern

How good is it to see rieslings held back so that they can really begin to show what they can become after they emerge from the period of youthful exuberance. This one has just started to move into its secondary zone. Bang. Slightly marmalade preserved lemon and lime combination. Palate is quite beautiful. It's started to develop the richness you expect, but it's retained a vibrant keen acidity which keeps it still fresh and lively. It will handle further cellaring, but boy it's such terrific drinking now. Drink to 2034.

95 points Ray Jordan Wine Review 2027

This is a wine in prime form. Golden Delicious apple, lemon verbena, ginger tea, lime, honeydew melon and wild honey characters all conspire. Some good concentration here, excellent stretch of flavour, cool lines and a fine, frisky feel despite the benign decay. A rare find in full flourish of excellence. Drink to 2035.

95 points & Special Value Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, September 2026

For any newer drinkers following along, five years old is not ‘old’ for a Great Southern Riesling. It is a grape variety that ages gracefully when made well. This is a great example of a Riesling beginning to show bottle-age characters while still holding strongly onto its youthfulness. In its current era, it tastes of honeycomb, lemon balm and hazelnuts. In the mouth, the acid is linear and firm, with a pithy texture that adds some muscle. Drink to 2035.

94 points Cyndal Petty for Wine Pilot, August 2025

Mid-straw, showing well for a five-year-old wine. Lifted aromas of red apple, toast, honeycomb, cooked citrus and white lily. Generously flavoured, mouth-filling and with a core of apple, stone fruit and pithy acidity. Some grip shapes the finish and length. Drink to 2036.

92 points Aaron Brasher for The Real Review, October 2026

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.