2025 Pauletts Riesling, Clare Valley

A floral and frisky riesling that leans into its bright, pretty fruit characters. Lemon and lime with light tropical fruit notes all dosed up with a squeeze of pink grapefruit and some faint lift of talc-like sweetness. A simple and thirst-quenching style, with good verity of the variety. Neat and tidy. Drink to 2032.

92 points Special Value Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, November 2025

A citrus medley of lemon and lime, pith and juice mixes with subtle sweet spices and wet stones on the nose. It's fleshy and enticing, the flavours perfectly ripe and forthcoming, yet nothing feels forced or overdone. It's composed in its youth and has the hallmarks to age nicely. Drink to 2033.

92 points Gabrielle Poy for The Real Review, December 2025

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.

Bright and fresh, the nose offers lime cordial and citrus blossom, with subtle tropical notes and sweet spice. The harmonious palate has good fruit intensity and is more rounded than the nose would suggest. Well-balanced, and likely to develop well in bottle.

At the moment, there’s a promise of spring in the bottle. Kingfish carpaccio with finger lime and ginger dressing, tempura spring vegetables with ponzu or a Thai-style green papaya salad would all elevate the moment. A patient person holding onto a bottle for a few more years might find themselves reaching for altogether different recipes.