2025 Stargazer Riesling
2025 Stargazer Riesling

2025 Stargazer Riesling

93 pts
Stargazer |Tasmania |Riesling
Generous and versatile Riesling made by the skilled hands of Samantha Connew.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
1 Review
Price:
$37.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Sam Connew has a knack for making Riesling that feels both precise and generous, and the 2025 release is right on song. Sourced from her own Tea Tree vineyard in the Coal River Valley – blocks planted in 2004, 2017 and 2021 – plus a little fruit from Campania, it’s a wine that shows just how far Tassie Riesling has come.

The style sits on that lovely edge between dry and off-dry, with just enough residual sugar to round out the naturally racy acidity. It’s not about sweetness though – it’s about balance. Expect classic Tea Tree characters of crisp apple skin and citrus, layered with spice (nutmeg, cardamom) and floral notes of honeysuckle and chamomile. There’s also a savoury fennel crunch and a saline line that adds texture and intrigue.

Sam plays with skin contact, wild ferments and a little lees stirring to give the wine shape and subtle grip, which makes it so much more than just fruit and acid. 

It’s approachable now, but with that backbone of natural acidity it will happily evolve in bottle for years. A beautiful, balanced expression of Tassie Riesling from one of the best in the business.

95 points
"Pithy, textured crunchy and focused, with a pure drive of juicy citrus, just-ripe nectarine and perky acidity. Textured and long."
- Aaron Brasher (The Real Review)

Aaron Brasher

Aaron Brasher

The Real Review 95 Points

Pale straw, bright and lively in the glass. Lifted aromas of lime leaf, lemon pith, bath salts, white flowers and wet slate. Pithy, textured crunchy and focused, with a pure drive of juicy citrus, just-ripe nectarine and perky acidity. Textured and long.

Dave Brookes

Dave Brookes

Halliday Wine Companion 93 Points

A fragrant and wonderfully perfumed Coal River Valley riesling that shows characters of green apple, grapefruit, yuzu, lime, apple blossom, mineral salts, clover and crushed stone. There are little crushed mountain herb notes that join in on the palate, with a fine, lacy mineral driveline and a swell of green apple, citrus and stone on the back end.

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 1 review
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
  • AB
    Alexandre B.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    1 year ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Reviewing
    2023 Stargazer Riesling
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    One of my favorite Riesling

    Very good winemaker from Tasmania. This is always my go to when it comes to Riesling

    Was this helpful?

This wine teeters on the brink between ‘dry’ and ‘off dry’, but simply put it’s just superbly balanced in terms of acid and fruit/RS. The grapes are sourced from all 3 blocks of Samantha’s own vineyards in the Tea Tree sub region of Coal River, planted in 2004, 2017 and 2021 respectively and from another grower in Campania sub region, planted in 2001, Soil type as described by Samantha is predominantly dark clay on Jurassic dolerite in her estate vineyard.

Hand picked, 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 (2.99 PH) and with 6.7g 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.

“Pale yellow with green hints in the glass, the nose shows plenty of spice – freshly grated nutmeg and cardamom pods – along with the trademark Tea Tree apple skin character, and a honeysuckle floral note. On the palate there is plenty of wild fennel crunch combined with a and delicate chamomile laciness. The acid on the palate is salivating and zesty with a positive phenolic edge working seamlessly with the residual sugar to provide shape and balance.” – Samantha Connew – owner + winemaker

Price Bracket $31 to $40
Type White
Body Light Bodied
Variety Riesling
Country Australia
Region Tasmania
Australian State TAS
Feature Women in Wine
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
Critic Score 93
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
Closure Screw Cap

Stargazer

Stargazer is the pint-sized Tasmanian passion project of the talented Samantha Connew. Sam is one of the country's most respected wine judges and a greatly influential voice in the Australian wine industry. Stargazer is her one-woman show, focused around Sam's small, beautiful vineyard works in the Coal River Valley.

She only makes tiny parcels of a few wines. Riesling (and Riesling Blends), Chardonnay & Pinot Noir are her chosen varieties. The quality is outstanding across each and every wine and they rightfully sell out in next to no time each year.

The Stargazer range is a set of beautiful, ethereal representations of the Apple Isle.

Samantha Connew in her Vineyard Discover Stargazer

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