20% of the 2009 Isolation Ridge Riesling was fermented in large old oak. “This decision was really about texture rather than taste and added complexities,” Judy told me. The wine didn’t spend too long in oak and was soon transferred to temperature controlled stainless steel. It has medium intense aromas of lime juice, chalk dust, orange blossom, some grapefruit and a pleasant wet slate character. Dry, crisp, with a light to medium body and intensely citrusy flavors on the palate, it finishes long and steely. Drinking now it should evolve over the next 5-7 years and keep to 2020+. “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