2025 O'Leary Walker Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley

Pretty classic stuff here, albeit you'd say this release is quite concentrated and potent in its fruit characteristics. Lemon-lime, sweet and tart at the same time, green apple, distinct blackcurrant notes, a little lemon oil and dashes of mandarin marmalade. Lots of talc here, too – powdery, lavender-like, and with a little bit of grip in texture. Nice one. Quietly complex. This should be singing with another year and onwards – and do wait if you can.

95 points Special Value Mike Bennie winecompanion.com.au

The O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling from the Clare Valley is one of the purest expressions of Australia’s most celebrated Riesling terroir. Nick Walker and David O’Leary, both highly respected winemakers with long careers in South Australian wine, established O’Leary Walker in 2000 with the goal of showcasing premium fruit from the best cool-climate sites. Watervale in the Clare Valley is one of those sites, famous for its elevated position, limestone-rich soils, and crisp nights that help Riesling develop intense flavour while retaining piercing natural acidity.

The fruit for this Riesling comes from long-established vineyards in the Watervale subregion, planted on the classic terra rossa over limestone soils. These conditions give the wines their trademark floral aromatics, pristine fruit expression and fine mineral drive. The winemaking is deliberately minimal: hand-picked fruit, gentle pressing, and cool fermentation in stainless steel, designed to preserve purity and highlight the vineyard’s character.

In the glass it is pale straw with green tinges. The bouquet is fragrant and vibrant, showing lime zest, lemon blossom, and green apple, interwoven with notes of bath salts and crushed slate. On the palate it is racy and precise, with concentrated citrus and orchard fruit flavours supported by bracing acidity and a chalky mineral line. The finish is long, dry and elegant, leaving a refreshing, mouthwatering impression.

Food pairings lean into its zesty freshness: oysters with lime, prawn dumplings, Thai fish cakes, or light vegetarian dishes such as Vietnamese rice paper rolls or asparagus with lemon butter. It also pairs beautifully with young goat’s cheese. With 12 to 15 years of cellaring potential, the wine develops honeyed, toasty, and lanolin-like complexity while holding onto its core of citrus and minerality.