2025 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
2025 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling

2025 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling

95 pts
Rieslingfreak |Clare Valley |Riesling
The ultimate introduction to Clare Valley Riesling from a man who lives and breathes the stuff!
4.7
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars
19 Reviews
Price:
$25.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

The Rieslingfreak No. 3 is John Hughes' outstanding value Clare Valley Riesling.

The Clare Valley is John's home and this wine hails from the family vineyard at White Hutt. The 2025 vintage tells a story of resilience. A year marked by the driest conditions on record and searing heat produced smaller yields but fruit of extraordinary quality. This wine captures the generosity and power of Riesling in the Clare Valley while showing a delicacy rarely seen in such a warm, dry year.

The nose is very enticing, offering Pink Lady apples, Meyer lemon, guava, and fresh nectarine. The palate bursts with zesty citrus, think lemon and blood orange, alongside sweet apple, mango, and passionfruit. A tight, crisp acidity carries these flavours to a long, zesty finish. 

An absolute bargain and a must-have for lovers of Australian Riesling, delicious now or destined for the cellar.

95 points
"Linear and focused, with a long, mineral-edged finish."
- Ryan Montgomery (James Suckling)

Ryan Montgomery

Ryan Montgomery

James Suckling 95 Points

Fresh and tightly wound, with aromas of lime zest, green apples, guavas, talc, gun smoke and white flowers. The palate is full of drive and precision, showing bright acidity with lemon pith, crushed stones and a hint of jasmine. Linear and focused, with a long, mineral-edged finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Customer Reviews

4.7
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars
Based on 19 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 14 Total 4 star reviews: 4 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
19 reviews
  • CT
    Callan T.
    Verified Buyer
    1 month ago
    Reviewing
    2025 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Just buy some

    Love Riesling? Then you will love Reislingfreak. So many different expressions across the range, all delightful in their own way. Try them all, they represent incredible value.

    Was this helpful?
  • SM
    Simon M.
    Verified Buyer
    2 months ago
    Reviewing
    2025 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Rieslingfreak

    Great

    Was this helpful?
  • SV
    Symeon van der K.
    Verified Buyer
    10 months ago
    Reviewing
    2024 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
    Rated 4 out of 5 stars
    Best value for money Riesling

    Clean, crisp, mouth-watering acidity. This Riesling is about as good as it gets at this price point. Highly recommended.

    Was this helpful?
Show More

The lead up to the 2025 vintage was notable for 2024 being the driest year on record in South Australia, as well as being the third-warmest year since records began in 1838. With little rain to speak of it was clear that the 2025 vintage would demand judicious irrigation and careful management of supplemental water to achieve quality crops. From budburst there were clear indicators of the potential for a bumper harvest, but hopes were dashed in late September when a catastrophic frost annihilated the early spring growth across much of the Clare and Eden Valleys. While initially devastating, the timing of this frost event played into our favour as we watched the vines bounce back with secondary budburst. The second crop was significantly smaller than the primary, but with limited water supply and no rain in sight, this allowed our growers to curate dense, healthy canopies with remarkable quality fruit from minimal water input.

Summer temperatures were well above the long-term average leading to early harvests across South Australia. Rieslingfreak commenced picking on the 10th of February, with all the fruit received into the winery by the end of the month. For a year that is marked by hot and dry conditions, the intensity of flavour and electric acidity in the 2025 Rieslings is both remarkable and incredibly exciting. While the quantity of wine produced from the vintage may be meagre, the quality certainly cannot be questioned.

2025 Rieslingfreak No.3 Clare Valley Riesling
The No.3 is harvested primarily from the family vineyard, situated in White Hutt, Clare Valley. The grapes are grown on heavy red clay soils that are rich in nutrients and have significant water holding capacity. These classic Terra Rossa soils are responsible for the rich flavours and generous palate weight that has become the hallmark of the No.3.

The family vineyard in White Hutt always produces wines of great generosity, and the 2025 No.3 is a uniquely balanced wine that exhibits both richness and delicacy. The nose is richly seductive with aromas of Pink Lady Apples, Meyer lemon, guava and fresh nectarines. The palate is intensely flavoured with zesty citrus-driven flavours of lemon and blood orange, complemented by sweet apple and tropical notes of mango and passionfruit. The lusciously flavoured palate is classically generous yet deceptively delicate, deftly bound by a tight line of crisp acidity that carries through to a long, zesty finish.

Alc: 10.9% | Residual Sugar: 0.56g/L | pH: 2.70 | TA: 8.6g/L

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type White
Body Light Bodied
Variety Riesling
Variety Style ["Dry Riesling"]
Country Australia
Region Clare Valley
Australian State SA
Reviewed By James Suckling
Critic Score 95
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
Closure Screw Cap

Rieslingfreak

Rieslingfreak founder & winemaker John Hughes is quite simply making the most comprehensive, high-quality and remarkably priced range of Rieslings in the country.

Growing up in the family Riesling vineyard in Clare Valley, which John still farms today, Riesling simply runs through this man's blood. John, with the help of his talented winemaking wife Belinda, make only Riesling - not a bottle of any other variety - and they've honed their craft to a level unmatched in Australia.

They are two of the nicest people you're likely to meet, so wholeheartedly committed to their vision and craft, and we are proud to have worked so closely with them for so many years. These wines rank amongst the very best value to be found anywhere in Australia, and we give them our fullest recommendation. Enjoy!

Discover Rieslingfreak

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Common Questions

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more.

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

No sorry we do not have a store front and pickup is not available.

Yes, no problem. When placing your order select ‘Store at Different Drop and Delivery Later’ as your shipping method or reply to the order confirmation email after placing your order with additional instructions.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

Our warehouse is automated so unless you tell us otherwise, we will ship your order. If you would like us to hold your order please reply to the order confirmation email after placing your order and we are happy to store your order for up to 6 months at no charge. You can review our heat policy here.

Yes, of course. We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. You can see our price match policy here.

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

No, all prices are set at the full discounted dozen rate already.

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Need a hand?

We’d love to help you out! Most questions can be sorted quickly through our Help Centre or by dropping us a line on chat or email. If it’s something urgent or you just really want to have a yarn about wine, food, or even the meaning of life, give us a call — we’re here for you.

Regular Enquiries

hello@differentdrop.com

Urgent Enquiries

02 8376 8775