2026 Rieslingfreak No. 8 Schatzkammer Polish Hill River Riesling

One of the great things about Riesling is that you can mould 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 is modelled off the German Kabinett style, sourced from a tiny 0.4ha planting - Block "D6" - tucked into a cool gully on the Jaeschke family's Polish Hill River vineyard. It's picked well before the rest of the site to preserve searing natural acidity, then the ferment is arrested exactly where John wants the balance of sugar and acid to sit.

This vintage's punchy flavour and racy acidity have made for one of the most exciting Schatzkammers yet. This is the most intense of the sweeter wines in the range, and you can tell from the first sniff - sherbety, floral and full of ripe tropical fruit. Low in alcohol, luscious and sweet up front, before a searing, almost electric line of acidity comes in and cuts straight through it. That tug-of-war between succulent sweetness and blistering acid is the whole magic trick of this style, and few in the country pull it off as well as this.

Sweet yet refreshing all at once - this is one of the top-of-the-pile sweeter-styled Rieslings in the country.

97 points
"Firstly, if you were drinking this style in Germany, at this level of quality, you'd likely be in the vicinity of five times this price."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)