2018 Crawford River Museum Riesling
2018 Crawford River Museum Riesling

2018 Crawford River Museum Riesling

96 pts
Crawford River |Henty |Riesling
The Thomson Family blesses us with a wonderful museum release Riesling, straight from their cellars.
Price:
$86.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Crawford River has set the benchmark for aged Australian Riesling for more than four decades. The Thomson family were the first to plant Riesling in Henty back in the mid-1970s, and their wines remain the reference point for this cool, remote corner of western Victoria.

This Museum Release comes straight from the Crawford River cellar - perfectly aged and showing why these wines have such a cult following. The 2018 vintage was warm and early, producing a generous, balanced Riesling that has evolved beautifully in bottle.

It’s built on fruit from the original 1975–77 plantings, rooted in gravelly, ironstone-rich clay loam over limestone. Fermented in stainless steel and aged on lees for extra texture, it now shows lemon curd, white florals, and subtle toasty, nutty notes. The palate is long and chalky with fresh acidity holding it all together.

This is mature Riesling at its best - complex, graceful and still full of life. Crawford River does the cellaring for you, and few do it better.

2018 RIESLING — MUSEUM RELEASE

“We bottle each of our wines only once. This means a homogenised blend of any given wine is bottled in the same day. We feel this gives integrity to all our wines. Change will occur due to bottle age, but such change is happening to each and every bottle stored in similar conditions. Our aged release wines are exactly that. Bottled in the year when blended and held in storage by us for a future release date.”
– Belinda Thomson, Vigneron

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Season:

Good winter rainfall and a wet spring meant kick-off to the 2017/18 season was a little slow. It also meant that access to certain parts of the vineyard was impossible until they dried out.

November was magnificently warm, meaning growth raced ahead. Flowering was warm and very calm, which led to a magnificent fruit set across varieties.

Vintage was early – in spite of our highest yields in a decade. We had warm, dry conditions throughout with no disease, which made for extremely easy – and generally fast – picking.

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Winery:

According to the fruit profile within individual parcels, a combination of crushed and whole clusters were used when pressing this fruit. After a short settle, the clean juice was racked and fermented in 100% stainless steel to dryness.

All parcels are kept separate until after the completion of fermentation and time on lees. Total time on full lees was between 8–12 weeks, followed by blending.

Bottled: September 2018
Closure: Screwcap

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Vineyard:

There are three original plantings of Riesling on our site.
• In 1975 and 1976, Riesling was planted on two gentle ridges lying side by side, similar in aspect to the NNW and very similar in composition. Both blocks have a dominance of gravelly, ironstone-rich, clay loam.
• The third block, planted in 1977, tends to a WNW aspect, has less gravel, more sandy loam, and closer proximity to its limestone base.

⸻

Winemaker’s Notes:

This wine still has an uncanny edge of green hue in the glass. Lemon curd and deeper white florals take the lead here, with subtle toasty notes and almond following.

A medium frame carries delicate, chalky texture and soft acidity, creating poise and balance from start to finish, with plenty of freshness and life for some time to come.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Riesling
Country Australia
Region Henty
Australian State VIC
Feature High Score
Iconic
Women in Wine
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
Critic Score 96
Size 750ml
Vintage 2018
Closure Screw Cap

Crawford River

Crawford River is very much a family operation. The talented Thomson clan have been producing wine from their beautiful home vineyard since 1985.

The Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc thrive on the estate, but it's Riesling that they are most famous for.

They produce a range of styles of varying ages that are outstanding. Many consider them as one of the country's premier producers of the noble variety.

These are wines of purity and elegance. Small-batch, family-owned, traditional winemaking and good, honest farming is at the core of everything Crawford River does.

Belinda and John Thomson - Henty, VIC Crawford River

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