Description
A producer with a single-minded varietal focus is a rarity in Australian wine, John Hughes is one of those rarities.
Try his wonderful new releases in this pack!
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 4 Eden Valley Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 5 Clare Valley Off Dry Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 2 Polish Hill River Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 8 Schatzkammer Polish Hill River Riesling
- 2023 Rieslingfreak No. 11 Mosaik Eden Valley Riesling
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
The Rieslingfreak No. 3 is John Hughes' outstanding value Clare Valley Riesling.
The Clare Valley is John's home. This wine captures the essence of the region. This comes from John's home vineyard, and it's the wine he watches closest from vine to bottle.
Firm, steely but with a generosity that makes this a delicious drink now or primed for decades in the cellar. An absolute bargain and a must have for all lovers of Australian Riesling.
97 points
"So perfumed and essential, with crunchy lime, green apple and grapefruit alongside high tones of wildflowers, Christmas lily, jasmine, talc, mineral salts, peach skin and stone. Concentrated yet super-tight on the palate with a tubular core of focused lime and citrus fruits, a beautifully fine structure and a tangy, energetic line with velocity to burn. A superb, pristine wine."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
97 points
"From the family White Hutt vineyard. Immediate white florals unfurl from the glass. Jasmine and flannel flower. Green Alphonso mango skin, orange blossom and pink lady apple. It’s tightly coiled with a touch of spritz that relaxes and opens to white stone fruit and lemon peel. Acidity, although upright as expected, is surprisingly unified in the wine. The fleshiness of white peach is gathering momentum. This feels like it’s been getting to know itself in the bottle for longer than it has. Ready for drinking but of course another 10-15 years of jubilant life ahead of it yet. Drink with peach and arugula salad with crumbled ghost cheese."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 4 Eden Valley Riesling
John Hughes has a deep love of Riesling.
His unwavering commitment to it has seen him become one of the country's finest artisanal producers of the variety.
This is his Eden Valley Riesling. The fruit is sourced from three vineyards between Eden Valley and Flaxman’s Valley.
It's made in a dry style, looking to capture the sublime characters of these brilliant vineyards. The quality is clear, the expression is pure.
This is Eden Valley Riesling in top form. A deadset bargain for any Riesling fan.
95 points
"Tight and high-toned, as all Eden Valley riesling should be, with Bickford's lime cordial and Tahitian limes at its base. Hints of orange blossom, crushed quartz, lemongrass and stone with a light, balanced sheen of phenolics and a febrile sense of urgency as it careens across the palate, finishing fine and long."
- Dave Brookes (Haliiday Wine Companion)
94 points
"Passion flower, Feijoa and frangipani blooms. Stoney and mineral with a cucumber melon freshness. High toned and electric acidity, this wine has power almost beyond measure. Twinged in all the right places for long term cellaring. The palate has a lacey skin texture, coupled with blue stones and running river water. It’s graceful and yet demands your attention with a casual firm grip. A wine for white meats like poached chicken salads and slices of pork medallion."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 5 Clare Valley Off Dry Riesling
There are few off-dry styles of Riesling in Australia that are executed as well as this offering from Riesling fanatic, John Hughes.
The balance in this release is excellent. The ripeness of fruit and the laser-like acidity all lends itself perfectly to make this more 'Germanic' expression of the Clare Valley. It's a wine you could happily drink straight away, or hold onto it for later (if you can resist).
This wine style matches perfectly with spicy dishes and has the balance to drink brilliantly on its own.
97 points
"Look away if you don’t want to be utterly seduced, for you have now been warned. In a vintage such as 2024 the off dry styles of riesling from Rieslingfreak are something to be savoured... This is magnificent stuff. Drink with Prawn Cheung Fun and glory in a pairing fit for kings."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
96 points
"I'm a sucker for a good off-dry riesling (here, it's 13g/L RS), and this certainly ticks a lot of boxes for me... There's a real tension to this wine, a pressure-like interplay between RS and acidity that releases with a long, purely fruited draw on the finish, seeming drier than you'd expect as the acidity tempers that gentle sweetness beautifully. Bravo."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 2 Polish Hill River Riesling
The Polish Hill River Riesling comes from a single block in the Polish Hill sub-region of the Clare Valley.
John & Belinda Hughes think this vineyard produces the best fruit of all of their vineyard sources. Grown in soils rich with limestone and shale, this dry Riesling is ballistically good in 2024.
There's an extra level of intensity here. That classic iron bar of acidity as a spine, the chalky crunch of a green apple, wonderful perfume and glorious purity.
This sits comfortably alongside the best wines from this famous sub-region of the Clare. This is an elite Australian Riesling which beautifully captures one of the premier sub-regions for Riesling in the whole country.
98 points
"Such a sleek, tightly bound package, with a steely focus, porcelain acidity and a pitch-perfect tubular palate shape. It's lovely saline and sapid drinking now, but this will age beautifully."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
96 points
"It’s otherworldly, to be perfectly honest, quite hard to describe. It’s ethereal. All I can say is this is what you’d drink at the pearly gates, if you’ve been good of course."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 8 Schatzkammer Polish Hill River Riesling
One of the great things about Riesling is that you can mold it into any form you like. Want it dry? Ferment it dry. Want it sweet? You can have that, too...
John Hughes loves Riesling in all its forms and guises.
The No. 8 from Rieslingfreak is modelled off the German Kabinett style of Riesling. It's picked early to preserve the searing natural acid of young Clare Valley fruit, then has the ferment arrested just as John decrees that the balance of sugar and acid is right where he wants it.
It's sweet yet refreshing all at once. This is one of the top of the pile sweeter-styled Riesling in the country.
96 points
"It's an enchantingly pure wine, its finely honed tension making it appear drier than you'd expect, with a fine, minerally cadence, an ache of umami and a drawn-out lime sorbet finish. Superb drinking."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
96 points
"What a journey this wine takes you on...The vineyard shines here with sweetness perfectly matched to suit the character of the fruit. It’s JUST right and a demonstration as to why you need to be a freak of all things Riesling to produce wine this good. Cellar for another 20 years if you have the patience of a saint. Serve with luscious pork belly."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2023 Rieslingfreak No. 11 Mosaik Eden Valley Riesling
John Hughes is all about showcasing his love for Riesling, and he's passionate about showing off the diversity of the variety. This wine, his No. 11 Mosaik Riesling, is absolutely a wine to behold.
John got a little bit creative and wild with this expression - taking fruit from the Eden Valley, then ageing the wine in seasoned French oak for about a year. The result is magnificent - expect the typical Eden Valley Riesling flavours, like delicate florals, a lip smacking line of acidity, zesty citrus and finishing refreshingly crisp and racy. But the time spent in oak has given it an extra layer of complexity and the addition of a beautiful, mouth-filling, silky texture.
Overdelivering in the value for money department, this is an outrageously delicious and complex wine. Riesling lovers, you can't miss this.
Customer Reviews
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