2025 Grosset Alea Riesling

94 pts
A wonderfully balanced expression of off-dry Riesling from the Clare Valley master, Jeffery Grosset.

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Description

We’ve always loved the story behind Alea. Back in 2012, Jeffrey Grosset noticed that one particular corridor of his Rockwood Vineyard in Watervale consistently produced fruit with strikingly high natural acidity. Instead of folding it into Springvale, he kept it separate, experimenting with a touch of residual sugar to see how far he could push balance. The result was Alea – a Riesling that sits in a fascinating middle ground between bone-dry and off-dry, and a wine that’s become a real favourite of ours in the Grosset line-up.

The 2025 release is another beauty. It opens with lime zest, lemon blossom and white flowers, before rolling into a palate that’s gently textural – grapefruit and lime cordial with just a whisper of stone fruit richness. What makes Alea so compelling is the tension: that interplay between acid and fruit sweetness that stretches the finish long, fine, and refreshingly dry.

We love how versatile this wine is at the table. It’s a knockout with fragrant, spicy dishes – Thai, Vietnamese, even a plate of sashimi with a dab of wasabi – but it’s also just a joy to drink on its own. For us, Alea shows Riesling’s range better than most Australian example: same grape, same region, yet a completely different personality to Springvale or Polish Hill.

"Is there some residual here? You’d barely know it. This is real craft, real understanding. This is an excellent riesling."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

94 points - "It’s hard to get people excited over ‘balance’ but sometimes it’s a beautiful thing. This is a riesling of body, shape, juiciness and length, but as a determinant of quality it’s the balance that does it. It builds such a weight of flavour through the mid-palate that you wonder if it’s going to get stuck there – and then it just sails on as if everything has been taken in its stride. Is there some residual here? You’d barely know it. This is real craft, real understanding. This is an excellent riesling." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

94 points - "Pale, almost water-like in the glass; very restrained and reserved on the nose also, with fresh pastry, lemon blossom aromas, the palate likewise shy and unready, with the merest trace of sweetness which carries a trace of honey, and leaves the palate cleansed and refreshed. This is a very youthful wine which needs time and will richly reward a little cellaring. I'd keep it for at least two years and then drink for 12+. It's almost a sin to open it too soon. 18 Jul 2025" - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

94 points - "There is such pleasure here, a glossiness to texture, a joyous feel to fruit character, a light dusting of spice, some sweet, herbal inflections and a soft landing of pulpy mandarin to finish. It feels even-keeled and refreshing while also offering nuance from the variety, a detail of citrus fruits, spice elements, slate-like minerality and a judicious flamboyance of fruitiness. Puts a smile on your dial." - Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

94 points - "Mineral-edged aromas of lime zest, grapefruit peel and wet stones. The palate is light- to medium-bodied with tight acidity and a touch of texture from residual sugar, giving flavors of lemon balm, white orchard fruit and crushed stones. Great tension and balance. Drink or hold. Screw cap." - Ryan Montgomery (James Suckling)

94 points - "This 2025 Alea Riesling is ultra pretty, with notes of lychee and green apple, rose petals, pear and lime juice. The wine is detailed in the mouth and shows great promise for the future. This is a wine that ages gracefully and subtly, and the way it sits in the mouth is a thing of great beauty—it is poised and balanced and fresh. The residual sugar barely registers, save for the sleekness of texture and the way it lingers through the finish. 12.1% alcohol, sealed under screw cap." - Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

Gently fragrant with subtle richness on the mid-palate, this sixteenth vintage from Rockwood Vineyard showcases the fascinating European-style expression that distinguishes Alea from its Polish Hill sibling. Pronounced lime and lemony flavours emerge with impressive depth and intensity, sourced from the vineyard’s distinctive hard red rock and poor orange-red loam soils. The wine delivers remarkable mid-palate depth while finishing almost bone-dry with purity and finesse. This terroir-driven Riesling demonstrates how the same variety can express completely different characters depending on site – offering wine lovers a compelling alternative that maintains varietal integrity while showcasing unique soil-driven personality and structure.

Produced from riesling grown biodynamically at the Grosset Rockwood Vineyard

Unfined- vegan and vegetarian friendly

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type White
Body Light Bodied
Variety Riesling
Variety Style ["Off-Dry Riesling"]
Country Australia
Region Clare Valley
Australian State SA
Feature Iconic
Organic
Critic Score 94
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
Closure Screw Cap

Grosset Wines

Jeffery Grosset has set a blistering pace for winemakers in the Clare Valley since 1981.

He is one of the premier Riesling producers in the country and has been recognised internationally as one of the finest winemakers in Australia.

His attention to detail, both in his organically farmed vineyards and his winery, has given rise to a portfolio of effortlessly articulate wines that are the envy of many.

Focus, intensity and immaculate balance are the hallmarks of every wine that Jeffery Grosset puts his hand to.

Jeffery Grosset in the vineyard - Clare Valley, SA Grosset Wines

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