Stargazer Riesling 2024

Stargazer Riesling 2024Product Information: This wine teeters on the cusp of dry and off dry, superbly balanced in terms of acid and fruit RS. The nose shows plenty of citrus bergamot and yuzu notes with the trademark Tea Tree apple skin character also evident. The palate delivers plenty of lemon sherbet and lime zest combined with greengage plum juiciness. The acid on the palate is tangy and vibrant with a salivating, wet stone, refreshing finish. 2024 marks a return to

Product Information:

This wine teeters on the cusp of ‘dry’ and ‘off dry’, superbly balanced in terms of acid and fruit/RS. The nose shows plenty of citrus bergamot and yuzu notes with the trademark Tea Tree apple skin character also evident. The palate delivers plenty of lemon sherbet and lime zest combined with greengage plum juiciness. The acid on the palate is tangy and vibrant with a salivating, wet stone, refreshing finish.

2024 marks a return to drier conditions, composed conditions with little wind or rain to interrupt the start of the growing season. The grapes are sourced from a two vineyards in the Tea Tree sub region of Coal River, planted in 2004, 2017 and 2021 respectively. Soil type as described by Samantha is predominantly dark clay on Jurassic dolerite. 

Hand picked in two picks one week apart, destemmed and left on skins for 8 hours before being pressed off to tank for fermentation. 100% wild ferment. Samantha stops the tank ferment when she feels the sugar to acid balance is right (approx 11 weeks) and then leaves on lees for one further month, stirring fortnightly. A Riesling with natural acid (2.97 PH) and with 8.4g grams residual it’s an absolute pleasure of a wine that showcases the potential of the Coal River for this variety and how the texture is so very different when you don’t need to acidify this variety.

Maker:

Stargazer pays tribute to Abel Tasman, who as an explorer and navigator, must have spent a fair amount of time gazing towards the heavens. A Dutchman under the employ of the United East India Company, Abel Tasman was the first European to sight Tasmania (on 24 November 1642) and then the South Island of New Zealand, nineteen days later on 13 December. He is a natural link for winemaker Samantha Connew, having been born and bred a South Islander, and now having fallen in love with another island, Tasmania.

For Samantha Connew, the opportunity to work with pristine fruit to craft the wines she is passionate about in an environment of extraordinary beauty is really all she wanted to do as a winemaker. Sam recollects her high school Classics teacher, a Scotsman who at one point had been in the Merchant Navy, always said that when visiting museums, art galleries, and churches we should remember to look up as the best treasures can be above us. 

Talented winemaker and wine judge Samantha Connew took over the property in 2016 and expanded the vineyard to include additional vines: more pinot noir, some chardonnay and more riesling along with smaller quantities of gamay, pinot blanc, pinot gris and gewurztraminer.

Vineyard:

The 2024 Riesling includes fruit from the younger sections of my Palisander Vineyard in the Tea Tree subregion of the Coal River Valley, twenty minutes north-east of Hobart. Planted in 2017 and 2021, the clones are GM239 and GM198. The remaining fruit (36% of the final blend) is from a neighbouring vineyard, planted in 2004 to a density of 5000 vines to the hectare. Both vineyards are primarily brown dermosol on Jurassic dolerite, and the vines are cane pruned and trained to a VSP canopy, with green harvesting and shoot thinning in spring and summer where necessary.

Palisander Vineyard (coined by Sam) is located on brown dermosol soil over jurassic dolerite, the igneous rock which gives over half of Tasmania its distinctive geological formations (think the rocky outcrops on the Tasman Peninsula). The soil is particularly high in calcium which is a positive indicator for quality grapes, being associated with thicker skins and slower ripening. Whilst still very new to the whole grape grower caper, Samantha and her new vineyard manager Guy Young are fervent believers in sustainable farming, biodiversity and regenerative agriculture. As part of this approach, they use sheep in the vineyard during winter for weed control, chickens free range throughout the year and scratch around for  bugs, bees contribute their pollination magic (and honey) and since 2020 we have planted over 1000 native species on the property.

Stargazer vineyards are located in the Tea Tree subregion at the northern end of the Coal River Valley, the original 1ha vineyard on Back Tea Tree Road was planted by Norm and Jan Gangell in 2004. Pretty much half and half riesling and pinot noir, the property (eleven hectares in total) is also home to an olive grove. Samantha took over in 2016 and in late 2017 expanded the vineyard to include an additional two hectares of vines: more pinot noir (four clones), some chardonnay (another four clones) and more riesling. Stage two of the expansion was planted in October 2021: more pinot noir (two clones), gamay, pinot blanc, riesling, pinot gris and gewurztraminer.

Nose - Bergamot, Yuzu, Apple Skin
Shows plenty of citrus bergamot and yuzu notes with the trademark Tea Tree apple skin character also evident.

Palate - Lemon Sherbet, Lime Zest, Green Plums
On the palate there is plenty of lemon sherbet and lime zest combined with greengage plum juiciness. 

Finish - tangy Vibrant, Wet Stone
The acid on the palate is tangy and vibrant with a salivating, wet stone, refreshing finish.

The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Riesling
Country - Australia
Region - Coal River Valley, Tasmania
Vintage - 2024
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13%