2025 Wines by KT 5452 Riesling, Clare Valley

Kerri Thompson has lived and made wine in the Clare Valley since 1998. Wines by KT is her own label, established after nearly two decades making wine across Australian and European regions. Her wines have become much-loved among sommeliers for the precision, personality and genuine sense of place they consistently deliver.

The 5452 is the postcode of Watervale — a tribute to the township and the growers whose dry-grown vineyards are at the heart of everything KT makes. This is Kerri's classic Clare Riesling: dry, focused and built around the "power in elegance" she describes as the defining quality of Watervale fruit.

The grapes for this wine are from the wonderful Peglidis vineyard in Watervale, planted in 1973 on chocolate loam over limestone and dry-grown ever since. Behind the vineyard are Bunny and Yvonne Peglidis. Bunny, now in his nineties, began growing grapes at twelve years old in his father's vineyard in Greece before migrating to Australia. For over sixty years he and Yvonne have tended this block by hand. Kerri considers their fruit among the finest in the Clare Valley, and the friendship between them is as much a part of these wines as the soil they grow in.

The 2025 is bright, zesty and immediately inviting: lime juice, lemon blossom, green melon and jasmine on the nose, with a thread of chalk and slate minerality. The palate is crisp and focused, with punchy citrus fruit, natural acidity and a clean, refreshing finish that lingers.

Drink now or cellar with confidence. Try with kingfish sashimi and yuzu when younger, or a cold soba noodle salad with sesame and cucumber if your wine has developed a bit of toastiness over time.