08 Jan Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Handpicked 2017 Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia

Considered one of the six noble grapes, Riesling is a wine that is refreshing, acidic and versatile with great aging potential. Many may think of Riesling as a sweet wine and there are many that do have residual sugar, balanced by intense acidity. But there is dry Riesling as well. One dry Riesling to look out for is the Handpicked 2017 Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia, the Please The Palate Wine of the Week.

Riesling was born in Germany and also found success in Austria and the Alsace region of France. But Australia has been famous for its dry Riesling, specially from the Clare and Eden Valleys in South Australia. The Clare Valley is one of Australia’s oldest wine regions. It is also South Australia’s northern-most and coolest wine region. The moderate continental climate with cold nights and hot days, as well as a higher altitude, are ideal for Riesling.

Handpicked Wines focuses on producing regionally expressive and site-specific wines. The Handpicked 2017 Clare Valley Riesling is stainless steel fermented and aged. It is a vibrant wine with notes of lemon, lime and tart apple. The wine has a lovely texture on the palate and has a clean, crisp, mineral-driven finish.

The Handpicked 2017 Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia retails for $26.99 and is the perfect wine to pair with oysters or a seafood salad.