2025 Julius Eden Valley Riesling, Henschke

• Style: Dry, aromatic, mineral-driven
• Taste: Stone fruit, citrus, floral with saline minerality
• Food: Shellfish, white fish, Asian cuisine, aperitif
• Occasion: Sunday lunch, date night, aperitivo
• Serve: Chilled, 11.7% ABV

In the Glass — Tasting Notes

Pale lemon light fills the glass with insistent floral perfume — orange blossom, elderflower, white rose. High altitude and cool harvest have locked in green, flinty character that arrives as lime zest and saline minerality, running through white peach, finger lime and pink grapefruit. At 11.7% alcohol the wine feels weightless but structured; acidity of 7.39 g/L carries the kind of backbone that allows graceful ageing for a decade or more.

The Winery — Henschke

The Henschke family have stewarded their Eden Valley estate since 1868. Fifth-generation winemaker Stephen and his viticulturist wife Prue lead the house today, celebrated worldwide for their single-vineyard expressions. This particular Riesling comes from Cranes Range — 32 hectares at 500 metres elevation on sandy loam and gravel, where later ripening and cooler conditions shape the fruit. The challenging 2025 vintage saw drought, frost, then relentless heat; the secondary-bud crop that survived came in during cooler February conditions, allowing the winemakers to pick in genuine balance. Tank fermentation and early bottling have preserved every whisper of aromatic delicacy.

At Your Table — Food Pairing & Serving

Serve chilled with raw oysters, ceviche, salty charcuterie, or spiced Thai and Southeast Asian cooking. It's equally at home as an aperitif or a meditation on what Australia's cooler-climate regions can achieve. This organic wine tastes clean and mineral rather than self-consciously pure — which is to say it tastes like great wine. Whether you're exploring the wider Riesling selection or want to dig deeper into what the country's coolest terroirs deliver, this is a rewarding pour for immediate pleasure or patient cellaring alike.