2025 Crawford River Riesling, Henty

A vibrant green gold. A multifaceted bouquet of pure lemon zest, orange blossom, jasmine and wet stone. Concentrated, gently textured and very energetic on the palate, culminating in a long, mouth-watering finish. My advice is to drink the Strata Riesling now while you wait for this to mature into something special over the next 10 years plus. Drink to 2036.

97+ points Special Value Philip Rich for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

Winemaker Belinda Thomson wrote these notes for her 2025 Riesling: Intense concentration of flavours with a mineral core. Aromatically earthy and stone-like, with an underlying orange blossom note. Undertones of Kaffir lime. This wine has an intensity that demands attention, with lingering white florals through the mid palate and a mealy, autolysed yeast component throughout, lending both complexity and density to the wine. Generous fruit weight combined with a pithy texture and gentle acidity elongates the palate and adds to marvellous length and depth. It lingers and lengthens. Balance, purity and length combined. A joy, especially with a little air and time in the glass.

Crawford River is in the undisputed inner circle of Australia’s premier Rieslings. We would love to see a bottle of the 2025 paired a year from now with a steamed coral trout dressed with a makrut, ginger and white pepper soy glaze.

More about this wine

The fruit for this wine was sourced from some the oldest parts of the vineyard, planted in the 1975-1976 season to the Geisenheim 198 clone. The two blocks share north to north-westerly aspects and similar soils of gravelly, ironstone-rich and free draining clay loams. A further contributing block was planted in 1977 with the same Riesling clone and has a west to north-westerly aspect, with less gravel, sandy loam, and closer proximity to its limestone base.

The 2025 season started after an incredibly dry winter, with spring frost reducing yields substantially. Harvest started early due to the overall continued dry and warm conditions, with excellent fruit quality across the vineyard.

The whole bunch pressed fruit was cold settled before fermentation started spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. Fermented at cool temperatures, the wine spent eight weeks on lees before being racked and blended ahead of bottling in September 2025.

About Crawford River

The Crawford River vineyard was established in 1975 by John and Catherine Thomson, in then relatively unknown region of Henty in southwestern Victoria. Located 50 kilometres from the coast and enjoying the moderating effects of the Southern Ocean, it is a gently sloping natural amphitheatre with a north to north-westerly aspect. The soils comprise gravelly loams and friable clays over an ironstone-rich clay loam layer and a deeper limestone base.

Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon are the two dominant varieties, with smaller plantings of Cabernet Franc, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, all late flowering varieties that benefit from the site’s cool conditions and long, even, growing seasons. No synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or fungicides are used in this hand-tended vineyard, and the application of organic compost and mulching of our pruning canes helps maintain soil health, carbon levels and biodiversity. Sheep are allowed to wander through the vines after vintage and pruning, adding their natural fertiliser.

The second generation now continues the journey, with John and Catherine’s daughter Belinda at the helm since 2014. Her winemaking eschews dogmas and relies on thoughtful handling of fruit and a lightness of touch.