The 2009 Poison Hill Riesling is very alluring. This shallow topsoil over heavy clay vineyard seems to produce a distinctively floral, elegant style. The wine was youthfully closed when I tried it, revealing a suggestion of lemon zest, yuzu juice, orange blossom, wet pebbles, coriander seed and a dash of white pepper. In the mouth it is light bodied, very crisp, tight and dry with wonderful nervous intensity and a long minerally finish. Give this wine another two years in bottle and drink it 2012 to 2022+. “We planted Riesling when we planted our vineyard in 1988,” Judy Cullam of Frankland Estate explained when we met. “There’s a big Riesling vineyard next to us that Houghton’s had been leasing, so we knew the variety would do well. Our first vintage was the 1991. In the beginning when we would show the wine people would say to us, ‘Oh no, come back with a Chardonnay’.” Fortunately that attitude is changing and many wine cognoscenti now know that the Frankland region is begetting some world class Rieslings. Since 2001 Frankland Estate has moved from producing a regional blend to making three very impressive single vineyard Rieslings: Isolation Ridge, Cooladerra Ridge and Poison Hill.Importer: John Larchet, The Australian Premium Wine Collection; www.tapwc.com