2026 Forest Hill Estate Riesling, Mount Barker

Bright, light straw colour; lemon pith and stony mineral aromas, lovely fruit on the palate already showing depth and generosity, gently yeasty, clean and dry finishing but also smooth and accessible already. A touch of sweetness helps the early drinkability. Very attractive young riesling. Drink to 2036.

92 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, September 2026

The latest vintage of Forest Hill Vineyard’s estate Riesling is still a very young wine, leaning towards classic Mount Barker flavours of lemon curd and white peach, underpinned by slate and intrinsic acidity. Made in a dry style, it retains a modest 3g/L residual sugar, a common feature of classic Mount Barker Rieslings.

More about this wine

The 2026 blessed Mount Barker farmers with an at large uneventful growing season, with strong indicators of a classic vintage.

This wine is a blend of fruit harvested across the vineyard with up to fifty-year-old vines. The ferments in stainless steel were a combination of destemmed and whole bunch pressed fruit, with vineyard parcels kept separate to allow for different fermenting conditions and blending options. The wine rested on lees for additional textural impact prior to blending and bottling.

About Forest Hill

Forest Hill Vineyard is a family-owned business established in 1965 by Betty and Tony Pearse with guidance from the WA Department of Agricultural. It was the first commercial vineyard to planted in the Great Southern, laying foundations for a region that is today widely recognised for wines of elegance and purity. The current owners have been custodians of the historic property since 1996.

Located in the subregion of Mount Barker, the vineyard sits at 220m to 240m altitude approximately 40km from the coast. This part of the Great Southern enjoys long, temperate growing seasons with significant diurnal temperature variations, and sits at the northern edge of the Nornalup geological complex, a mix of ancient rock types that over time have weathered into deep laterite blankets, leaving ironstone gravel as the dominant soil type across the vineyard. Clay content varies from one block to another, alongside differing concentrations of gravel and loam.

Many of the original dry-grown vines planted in the 1960s continue to thrive today and remain the foundation of the wines produced. New vines are propagated from this heritage and complimented by more recent clonal material. The property is farmed with organic principals and with practical aspects of regenerative farming such as incorporation of grazing livestock, multi-species cover crops and mulch/compost applications: happy vines make good wines.