2024 Wilson DJW Riesling, Clare Valley

Wilson DJW Riesling from Clare Valley is a brilliant expression of Watervale purity and elegance. DJW stands for Daniel James Wilson, son of the winery's founders, and this wine comes from a single vineyard planted in 1974 at high elevation, right in the heart of Watervale. It’s a showcase of Clare’s hallmark style — intensely aromatic, bone dry, and beautifully structured.

The vineyard sits at 460 metres above sea level, where cool nights preserve acidity and warm days build ripeness. The soils here are classic red loam over limestone, delivering a tight mineral core that’s become a signature of DJW. Winemaking is minimal — hand harvesting, gentle pressing, and a cool ferment in stainless steel to retain the pristine fruit and florals.

In the glass, it opens with lime blossom, lemon zest and green apple, underscored by bath salts and talc. The palate is racy and focused with mouth-watering citrus, wet stone minerality and a long, precise finish. It’s one of those Rieslings that balances delicacy with drive — refreshing now but with real aging potential.

Pair it with Thai green curry, freshly shucked oysters, or goats’ cheese and green apple salad. While approachable young, DJW is known to evolve gracefully over 10 to 15 years, deepening in complexity and texture.