Canberra International Riesling Challenge 2010

Getting to the Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC) was in itself a challenge. The night before had been the Sommeliers Australia Annual Ball, where the Dux of the Sommeliers Education Program (Tristan Habeck from est in Sydney) was announced. This auspicious occasion was held alongside an unforgettable Asian banquet provided by Izakaya Den, Mahjong Black, Red Emperor and Longrain, and I was the MC. Not a problem in itself, but there always seems to be an element of catch up where the Ball is concerned, as one must keep oneself tidy during proceedings, but no such strictures remain afterwards. Needless to say, I was a little worse for wear, slightly jet-lagged (after 2 weeks in France), and coming straight off three days in Adelaide for the Good Food & Wine Show, which had appeared in the city of churches for the very first time.

However, given my love for Riesling, there were to be no excuses, and while the fumes of alcohol wafted around the Hyatt in Canberra (before a bottle had even been opened in anger), the judging team had a catch up with the engine room of the show, Ken Helm AM. It should come as little surprise that Ken drives this show, as his Riesling year in and year out is one of the most exciting Rieslings made in Australia. Chairman of judges was David O'Leary (a Riesling producer of some note from the Clare Valley), while Ian Hongell from Peter Lehmann and myself were to chair the panels. On my panel (panel B out of interest) I had the good fortune of judging with Brent Marris from New Zealand, and Jeni Port from The Age. Our associates were Chris Carpenter of Lark Hill and Di Miller from Bellarmine in Pemberton, WA. Ian's panel had Stefan Schindler from the German Wine Institute, and author Toni Patterson MW. Assistance in the guise of associates was ably provided by Dean O'Reilly from Moet Hennessy, and Kathy Williams from MinVin in Orange.

Now to the serious stuff. This show has an unusual format which I don't mind, due largely to the fact that only one varietal is judged, and that the wines come from all around the world. Not surprisingly, the largest number of entries came from Australia, while there were also entries from New Zealand, Germany, USA, France, South Africa, Argentina, Chile and the Czech Republic. Herein lies the tricky stuff, as the classes are divided into southern and northern hemisphere, but with the same criteria determined by residual sugar, and then split into unidentified regions. For example, both the northern and southern hemispheres each had a class one, which was current vintage dry styles (less than 8 gr/l residual sugar), so 2010 for southern and 2009 for northern; then the wines were grouped by region, and also split between panels! This is one headache of a matrix, but the reasoning is sound; give the judges as little information as possible, so they can get down to the job of purely concentrating on the wine in the glass.

I can't help but think that there is a little disconnect between the judging process and having a frame of reference for each bracket of wines that we judged. In theory when you judge a class of wines, you try to pick the best examples as you see them, given their variety and vintage. All good. However, quite a bit of grey area comes into the equation when you are trying to identify the origin of the wine, while at the same time trying to achieve the zen-like state of emptiness that lets you judge the wines as you see them. And for me this is the essence of the CIRC, as the push and pull of expectation and the guessing game keeps you on edge throughout. A good example of this was the mixed bag class, which was a melting pot of regions that didn't fit into a single regional class. This was a constant source of consternation during the judging process, as the frame of reference for what makes quality Riesling jumped all over the place.

On another note, it is interesting to read over the results and to see some current vintage (2010) wines with fairly solid reputations not performing up to par with regard to medals. This really does come down to the young and tightly wound 2010s needing a little bit of time to relax and show their full personalities over the course of time. Still there were plenty of very young wines that showed zip and zeal, but they could not quite stand up to the appeal of a wine aging gracefully, as the 2005 Paulett's Aged Release Riesling won over the hearts of the assembled judges to become the Champion Riesling of the show. Below are some of the wines and my actual notes from the 2010 Canberra International Riesling Challenge that I judges. And if you want to see for yourself just how crazy/wonderful the CIRC matrix truly is, you can view the full list here and download the full list below.


Eden Road 'The Long Road' Riesling, 2010
Canberra District
Award – Bronze Medal (Unlucky)
My score – 17.5
'A tight, minerally and slatey bouquet, beautifully constructed precise and linear; a touch exotic, long and very dry; racy stuff indeed.'

Naked Run Wines 'The First' Riesling, 2010
Clare Valley
Award – Gold Medal (Lucky)
My score – 15.5
'Pale, almost watery colour; steely palate, lacks depth and concentration; OK flavour, but a little tart to finish.'

Tim Adams Riesling, 2010
Clare Valley
Award – Gold Medal (Deserved)
My score – 18.5
'Unevolved, racy, linear, perfumed and fine; the palate is long, direct, graceful and quite powerful; delicious.'

Taylor's Riesling, 2010
Clare Valley
Award – Silver Medal
My score – 18.5
'Incredibly tight, taut and minerally in style; very dry, very focused and long; lovely execution.'

Kate Hill Riesling, 2010
Tasmania
Award – Gold Medal (Deserved)
My score – 16.5+
'Tight and a little talcy; unevolved, fresh and vibrant; took time to open, incredibly linear and long.'

Helm Premium Riesling, 2009
Canberra District
Award – Top Gold Medal (Deserved)
My score – 18.5
'Fine, tight, linear, focused, fresh and pure; incredible line and drive; exceptionally long.'

Saltram Mamre Brook Riesling, 2009
Eden Valley
Award – Gold Medal (Lucky)
My score – 15
'Quite a confected bouquet, not unlike Bickfords lime cordial; reasonable flavour, but short and clipped on the finish.'

Moore's Hill Riesling, 2009
Tasmania
Award – Gold Medal (Deserved)
My score – 18.5
'Lovely fresh and vibrant, showing a touch of green apple and lime; poised with great concentration and fine talcy acidity to finish.'

Plantagenet Riesling, 2009
Great Southern
Award – Silver Medal (Deserved)
My score – 17.5
'Crunchy green apple style, spring blossom florals; bright acid, with great definition; nervy finish.'

Lawson's Dry Hills Riesling, 2008
Marlborough, NZ
Award – Top Gold (Thoroughly Deserved)
My score – 18.5
'Good varietal intensity; quite pure and driven, with the acid providing tension from start to finish; lovely, delicate and long.'

Red Newt Cellars Semi-Dry Riesling, 2009
Finger Lakes, USA
Award – Gold Medal (Deserved)
My score – 18.5
'Wonderful purity of fruit; fresh green apple and focused; precise palate, zesty, vibrant long and seamlessly balanced sugar; lovely.'

Georg Muller Stiftung 'Edit

» Canberra International Riesling Challenge Full Results (1007Kb)

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