2025 Penna Lane Skilly Valley Riesling, Clare Valley

The Skilly Valley is a sub-region of Watervale. And the minerally character in the wine comes from the sandy loam soils over broken quartz. It’s quite a delicate wine, heavily scented with light florals and appley citrus notes with just a hint of musk stick. The palate is fine, and although delicate, has a tremendous driving intensity with that typical Riesling tension. It finishes long and picks up very subtle stone fruit nuances as it flows through. 

94 points Ray Jordan winepilot.com

Penna Lane Skilly Valley Riesling captures a different side of Clare compared to the more famous Watervale sites. Here, in the cooler and higher Skilly Valley subregion, the vineyards lie on leaner, rockier soils with a touch more elevation and exposure, producing wines that show extra tension, minerality and restraint.

Winemaker Peter Treloar, who has made Penna Lane his long-term passion project, works with this terroir to create a style that is lean, nervy and tightly wound. Aromas lean toward grapefruit pith, lime zest, white flowers and crushed stone, with an almost saline edge that sets it apart from the rounder citrus fruit profiles of Watervale. On the palate it is electric, bone-dry, and chiselled, with flavours of lemon peel, green apple and wet slate that stretch out across a long, steely finish.

The Skilly Valley Riesling is a natural fit with freshly shucked oysters, sashimi, or delicately spiced Asian dishes where its bracing acidity cuts through richness. It is also one of those Clare Valley Rieslings that rewards patience in the cellar, evolving gracefully over 10 to 15 years into notes of toast, honey and lanolin while retaining its lively line of acidity.