Leo Buring Clare Valley Riesling 2007

A bit of fresh riesling lovin' last night.

When I was in the Clare Valley during vintage time earlier this year, most of the wineries were open about the difficulties of the 2007 vintage, so I've been curious to try the resultant wines.

Here we have a sprightly young riesling, which opens in lively fashion with estery "fake fruit" smells, sort of a sherbet character. In the mouth, the acidity is present but not at all steely or hard, and the wine's flavours are generous. There's some spritzy CO2 as well. After about an hour, the sherbet overtones disappeared and revealed more classic lime/lemon juice flavours, especially in the mouth.

If a riesling could be a "fruit bomb," this would be one. It's fun to drink and quite flavoursome, "like soft drink" as the other half commented at one point. The flip side of this is that it seems to lack structure and elegance, being somewhat flabby for a young Clare riesling. Its flavours are also a bit simple and one-dimensional. I would not try cellaring this one.

Update: I "found" a glass of this the next day that had been sitting out overnight. Of course I had to taste it. It was actually in quite good shape, and for kicks I left it all day and came back to it in the evening, whereupon it was still holding its structure and fresh flavours. Perhaps it won't fall apart as quickly as I thought.