When I finally caught up with John Larchet last week he had just returned from Australia with a boat load of new wines. Larchet is owner of The Australian Premium Wine Collection, an import company that specializes in hand-crafted wines, some of them extremely eclectic, from boutique wineries scattered about Australia.
We sat down together and tasted a few dozen of the new releases and, as usual, one of the wines that stood out was the Grosset Riesling. Both of them actually. Grosset produces two Rieslings from the Clare Valley, the Watervale and the Polish Hill.
If you are not familiar with either, these are dry Rieslings, and for my money they are the finest in the New World. The Polish Hill may be the finest in the world, period, though Jean Meyer of Josmeyer (Alsace) might be willing to argue the point.
Grosset, pictured above, is not only a brilliant winemaker but a visionary as well. He led the charge to the screwcap wine closure in Australia, and what was once the exception is now the norm. And he demonstrated his commitment by putting his most cellar-worthy wine, the Polish Hill Riesling, under the Stelvin screwcap closure.
That the screwcap movement is gaining momentum throughout the New World (it’s quite the rage in New Zealand and is becoming accepted practice here in the United States) can be attributed at least in some small measure to Grosset’s passionate advocacy.
Grosset, like so many other vintners, grew weary of empty promises from the cork industry about stamping out cork taint. After careful consideration, he determined the screwcap to be the best alternative to cork for sealing a bottle of wine.
I will post reviews of both Grosset Rieslings later this week, but suffice it to say, if you doubt there are any great wines in screwcap bottles, it tells me you’ve never had the pleasure of a Grosset Riesling.
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