2025 Pauletts Polish Hill River Riesling, Clare Valley

Whoa! Hold onto your hats. This is like walking into an icy breeze, in the best sense. All the tension, all the lemons, all the limes, dashes of mandarin and grapefruit – a cavalcade of citrus and a near eye-watering level of freshness. Great news in that this has quite a bit of power and considerable depth of flavour, yet remains racy, compact and revitalising. Top notch. Drink to 2040.

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

Neil and Alison Paulett founded Pauletts in 1983 in the Polish Hill River subregion of Clare Valley, their work today continued by son Matt and his wife Ali. The now 60 hectares of estate vines have been unirrigated since 1999 and include a substantial portion of 70+ year old Shiraz and Cabernet vines and 35+ year old Rieslings. All of the wines are made from estate grown fruit, with winemaking in the experienced hands of Jarrad Steele.

The 2025 season in Clare Valley started with localised frost and dry conditions but favoured good quality grapes across all varieties. The fruit for this wine was machine harvested in the cool of the morning, destemmed and gently pressed to capture free-run juice only. Fermented using a select neutral yeast, stabilised, filtered and bottled young for a pure expression of the variety.

An intensely aromatic nose, a kaleidoscope of citrus, and notes of white flowers. The finely textured palate is deep and powerful, the finish long and refreshing. Firm yet ethereal, with a promise of a long life.

A great wine does not need cellaring, but patience will be much rewarded for those who keep a bottle or two to open in a decade or more. A younger wine would sit well with Japanese sunomono (pickled cucumber salad), ceviche with leche de tigre or, when in season, zucchini flowers stuffed with goat's curd and preserved lemon.