Nick Stock enjoys the fruitiness of the Brave New Wine riesling.

We love great riesling at JamesSuckling.com. Is any other grape capable of translating the influence of terroir in such pure and scintillating form? It is grown and revered in so many corners of the wine world, notably Germany, Austria, the US and Australia, for its ability to express a pure sense of place. In extraordinary cases a riesling transports you via the senses to great vineyard sites. We may not be able to physically travel, but great riesling can take us there for a moment!

We tasted 37 rieslings in the latest Western Australia tasting report and a staggering 35 of these were rated at 90 points or above, four of which scored 95 points or higher. This consistently high base-line of quality coming from that state’s Great Southern region certainly ranks it on a par with the more well-travelled Australian riesling regions like the Clare Valley and Eden Valley, albeit in smaller volumes.

There’s a historic regard for rieslings from this part of Australia dating back to the early 1970s, with names like Tinglewood, Galafrey, Howard Park, Frankland Estate, Plantagenet, Forest Hill, Alkoomi, Ferngrove, Capel Vale and Castle Rock having broken early ground with fine, pure wines that aged so well.

Hunter Smith, the Frankland Estate Winemaker, tastes a sample.

With the exception of Tinglewood these are all making wine today, many in the hands of second-generation family members like Hunter Smith (Frankland Estate) and Kim Tyrer (Galafrey). Other labels like Kerrigan + Berry and Cherubino have emerged as experienced winemakers bring their own names to prominence with outstanding quality wines.

More recently, the region has seen an influx of newer winemakers and producers like Brave New Wine, Singlefile, La Violetta, Cherubino and Goon Tycoons, diversifying the region’s offering. These younger palates and minds have broken free of the traditional confines of fine, dry and tight riesling winemaking to explore more textural styles, sometimes taking cues from old-world winemaking.

Vineyard-driven quality is being realized in various guises and styles here today. The refinement of farming practices to a more quality-focused approach, as well as greater vine age, is underpinning a squad of determined and skilled producers’ efforts in making great riesling.

Below is a snapshot of ten producers that have all made rieslings rated 93 points and above. In the full report you’ll see that Frankland Estate, Cherubino and Forest Hill have multiple wines that rated higher than 93 points; we’ve selected their top scoring wines here.

The rieslings of Western Australia’s Great Southern region, Western Australia’s largest officially ratified Geographical Indication (G.I.), continues their trajectory upward to new levels of quality, interest and sheer deliciousness. Explore these wines with confidence, they represent outstanding value in a global sense and you can (literally) taste the beauty of this remote Western Australian wine region in every single glass.

– Nick Stock, executive editor