2017 St Francis Xavier Museum Release Riesling

A colour of pale straw. Aromas of cumquat, white nectarine and lemon myrtle. Notes of honeycomb and brioche give hints of its future. The palate is finely structured and very clean, with a gentle fruit sweetness balancing the deceptive line of acidity. This is a wine that is at a wonderful age, just starting to show the softness and complexity of age but still retaining the vibrancy of its youth.

Riesling  Winemaker  Will Shields  Region  Clare Valley  A colour of pale straw. Aromas of cumquat, white nectarine and lemon myrtle. Notes of  honeycomb and brioche give hints of its future. The palate is finely structured and very  clean, with a gentle fruit sweetness balancing the deceptive line of acidity. This is a wine that  is at a wonderful age, just starting to show the softness and complexity of age but still  retaining the vibrancy of its youth.  Background Story  Known as somewhat of an athlete, the energetic  Francis also suffered from itchy feet and soon set  off to spread the Good Word throughout India,  Japan, Borneo and China. His adventurous spirit  became a part of the Jesuit DNA and  instrumental in the brotherhood establishing the  very first winery in the Clare Valley.  Vines  The 2017 St Francis Xavier Riesling was produced  with  fruit from the Weikert Vineyard. This small  vineyard (0.82ha) was planted in 1978 and  consistently  produces outstanding fruit to meet  premium requirements.  The vineyard’s red-brown loam over shale and  cool, sheltered aspect are key elements in  achieving the balanced growth and fine qualities  for our premium Riesling parcels.  Winemaking  The winemaking style is preservation of the  pristine fruit characters that develop during  ripening of the berries.  The grapes are picked in the coolest period of the  day and gently pressed and fermented at a very  low temperature. Only the free run juice is used  to make this wine, resulting in minimal phenolics  and purity of fruit.  The Weikert block has high natural acidity and  minerality, giving the Saint Francis Xavier  Riesling the backbone to age beautifully and  increase in complexity.  Vintage: 2017  Alcohol: 11.5%  Standard drinks: 6.8  Acidity: 6.8 g/L  p/H: 3.11  Bottled: July 2017