If you only had just seven rows of ungrafted, old vine riesling struggling away on steep, hand-cut, schist terraces in the desert-like conditions of Bannockburn – it hardly seems worth the dollars and effort of trying to coax anything into a bottle. Yet winemaker Jodi Pagey and viticulturist Len Ibbotsen are diehard fans of the brisk, gum-numbing, honeysuckle and citrus freshness that this fruit produces. Clean and quartz-like on the finish, it’s delicate and to die for with green mango salad.
