2026 Sons of Eden Freya Riesling, Eden Valley

Freya was the foremost goddess of ancient Germanic tribes on whose lands the Riesling grape originated. This wine honours the early German settlers to Barossa and has become a great ambassador for the Eden Valley side of the region over the years, with the previous 2025 vintage rated 95 points by Dave Brookes for the Halliday Wine Companion who also noted that the wine offered excellent value.

We’ll add our tasting notes for this wine soon. In the meantime, here’s what the winemakers see in a glass of the 2026 vintage:

‘Intense floral lemon blossom aromas lead to delicate citrus characters seamlessly backed with attractive spice notes. A long fine palate profile is well balanced with mid-palate flesh and zesty acidity typical of great dry Eden Valley Rieslings.’

More about this wine

The 2026 Freya was sourced from three mature Eden Valley vineyards: the Roesler and Cranes Range sites in Craneford at an elevation of 430 and 460 metres, and the Petney in High Eden at 520 meters. All parcels were hand-picked across six mornings and vinified separately at the winery. The whole bunches were chilled to six degrees before being lightly pressed, with only the free-run juice kept for this wine. The juices cold settled for a week and racked clear for a cool fermentation in stainless steel. The wine rested for three months on lees before the parcels were assessed, blended and naturally stabilised in preparation for bottling in July 2026.

The 2026 finished with a modest 3.8g/L residual (natural) sugar reading, but is firmly at the dry end of the spectrum, the sugars just about balancing the high total acidity of 8.2g/L.

About this producer

Sons of Eden takes its name from the two partners, winemaker Corey Ryan and viticulturist Simon Cowham, who both learnt and refined their trades in the vineyards and cellars of Eden Valley.