Howard Park Wines was launched in 1986 with the release of the 1986 Riesling, since this inaugural vintage the style and philosophy of the Howard Park Riesling has remained unchanged. The focus being to source the most pristine Riesling from premier vineyards in the Great Southern region of Western Australia to produce a wine showcasing the best of this variety from this isolated region ideally suited to Riesling.
The Howard Park Riesling is characterised by citric, limey aromas with a hint of flint or slate, a dry finish and racy acids. The Riesling has a clarity and purity of expression in its youth coupled with exciting vibrancy and freshness. The vines providing fruit for this iconic Riesling are grown in some of the highest vineyards in the Great Southern.
The wine is selected from only the best batches of “free-run” juice; these wines demonstrate great potential for slow ageing and the development of toasty complexity and greater mouth-feel. Howard Park’s Riesling is consistently rated as one of Australia’s best Rieslings with the three most recent vintages being nominated in James Halliday’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, 2005 and 2004.
The Howard Park Riesling will greatly reward the patient enthusiast with secondary characters beginning to develop after two years and continuing to add complexity for at least ten years. In a recent vertical tasting (1986 – 2005) held in 2006 at Margaret River to mark the 20th Anniversary of Howard Park, James Halliday noted “The riesling is a 100% varietal from six tightly clustered vineyards on the highest slopes of Mount Barker and the Porongurups… the ’86 and ’91 came equal first, the ’02 third.” A wonderful reinforcement to the ageability of Howard Park Riesling.
Tasting notes to come. Check back soon.
Complete Tasting Note | Media Reviews
