2025 Vanguardist La Cote Riesling

Michael Corbett’s La Côte Riesling takes Clare Valley’s signature variety somewhere new. It's a more textural, more savoury style, far from the straight-up and down versions the region is best known for.

Sourced from the dry-grown, western-facing La Côte vineyard in the Watervale sub-region of the Clare Valley. Hand-picked fruit was foot-crushed and roughly settled before being divided between three vessels: one-third Hungarian amphora, one-third new Austrian foudre, and one-third stainless steel. It was then left on lees with full malo to build texture and roundness.

The result is a Riesling that’s as much about feel as flavour - lime and grapefruit pith meet honeycomb and elderflower, all carried by fine mineral acidity and a gentle tannin line. It’s layered and savoury but still unmistakably Clare at its core.

A beautifully individual take on the region’s hero grape - lively, detailed and built for both early pleasure and a few years’ evolution in the cellar.

92 points
"It’s nutty, a little creamy, but has a firm attack of green apple acidity with a sort of kombucha tang to it, has a chalky and stony texture, and offers a finish of some zip and good length."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)