2025 Naked Run The First Riesling, Clare Valley

Mick Knappstein Trophy for Best Current Vintage Riesling

 2025 Clare Valley Wine Show

Naked Run The First Riesling from the Clare Valley is a pristine, vibrant and beautifully balanced wine that captures the purity and precision that have made this region world famous for Riesling. Naked Run is a boutique producer founded by winemaker Andrew Wardlaw, who focuses on small batch, single vineyard wines that express both place and variety with authenticity. The First Riesling is sourced from the estate’s high-altitude vineyard in Sevenhill, one of Clare’s most historic subregions, where cool nights and slate-rich soils produce fruit with intense flavour and taut acidity.

The grapes are hand picked early in the season to preserve freshness, then gently pressed and cold fermented in stainless steel with minimal intervention to retain the natural aromatics and texture of the fruit. The result is a Riesling that is pure and racy, combining crystalline fruit with mineral drive and subtle texture from time on fine lees.

In the glass it shows pale straw with green highlights. The aroma is lifted and precise, offering lime zest, lemon blossom and green apple alongside hints of jasmine and wet slate. On the palate it is dry, crisp and finely structured, showing concentrated citrus and mineral flavours balanced by lively acidity and a long, mouthwatering finish. It’s a wine of clarity and finesse, built to age yet immediately captivating in its youth.

Naked Run The First Riesling pairs beautifully with oysters, grilled prawns, Thai salads, or fresh goat cheese. It also complements dishes featuring lime, herbs or mild spice. Enjoy it now for its brightness and drive or cellar for up to fifteen years, when it will develop classic Clare Valley notes of honey, toast and lanolin while maintaining its refreshing core.