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Northburn Station 2008 Riesling

Despite the weather the country experienced over the last week, we are officially now in Summer, whichj made me think of places in New Zealand that experience hot summers, one oth those places has to be Central Otago. It is one of those strange phenomenons that Central Otago experiences some of our coldest temperatures in winter and some of the hottest in summer. Central Otago is also the location of the winery featured in this week’s weekly wine.

Northburn Wine Company is located just outside Cromwell. It is a family owned and operated company and also part of the Northburn Sheep Station owned by the same family, hence the wine being sold under the Northburn Station label. The picturesque vineyard is situated on the eastern banks of Lake Dunstan in Central Otago.

The 2008 Riesling is Northburn Stations second vintage. To make it, the ripe grapes were harvested over two days in the first week of April, 2008. At the winery, the juice was fermented slowly at low temperatures to ensure good mouth feel and clean, fresh flavours. There is 12 grams of residual sugar per litre in this wine also. This is much less than the Riesling I reviewed last week, if you recall.

I found the Northburn Station 2008 Riesling to have vibrant aromas of peach, nectarine and citrus with a hint of crisp apple. On the palate, for me the dominant flavour is of stonefruit, especially nectarines and apricot. There are also flavours of apple and lime, with mineral notes also present. I would consider this wine to be on the dryer side of medium dry, but is well balanced and with a lingering finish that has slight hints of honey. I would expect the honey flavours to develop more with aging.

I would expect this wine to cellar well for four to five years and the flavours to develop over this time. I would recommend this wine with fish or mild to medium spiced Asian dishes.

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (4/12/2009)

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