Tar & Roses Lewis Riesling 2022 - Central Victoria, Australia

96/100 Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion 
95/100 Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion (2021 vintage)
Bronze - Aaron Brasher, The Real Review (2021 vintage)

5 Star - James Halliday

Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion "The late Don Lewis was a star riesling winemaker. This wine named in his honour lives up to the Lewis style in both fruit concentration and class and is a fine follow-up to the excellent 2021 vintage. At once delicate and floral but with a solid core of pure, intense lime and citrus. A pitch-perfect riesling embracing a touch of savoury lemongrass, a pinch of spice and a brisk sherbety tingle set to some racy acidity."

Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion "Named after a very fine man and award-winning winemaker, Don Lewis, this wine honours the former Mitchelton and Tar & Roses winemaker who loved the riesling grape. So much budding complexity waiting to break through, with lifted floral aromatics, lemon, lime, citrus peel and a touch of exotic lemongrass. Concentrated on the palate, saturated in citrus intensity and length with a ribbon of apply spice with bright acidity that keeps on going. Wow!" (2021 vintage)

Aaron Brasher, The Real Review "Pale straw and really bright and vibrant in the glass. Lifted aromas of lemon pith, bath salts, jasmine, lychee and wet stone. Quite rich, soft and full flavoured, mandarin, tangelo, in the riper citrus spectrum, apple and pear in there as well. Round, full flavoured and easy drinking..." (2021 vintage)

Winemaker "Pale straw. The wine has attractive white blossom and orange skin characters on the nose. The palate flows well with generous fruit sweetness, citrus pith flavours combined with gentle acid complexity, textural phenolics with a clean finish."

The original Tar & Roses team of famed Don Lewis and Narelle King began their winemaking journey in Priorat, Spain, immersing themselves within the classic Mediterranean wine regions and varietals. This sparked an interest in how these varietals could be grown and made back home in their native regions of Central Victoria, Australia. Don, now passed was one of Australia's legendary winemakers earning the highest honour of winemaking in Australia, the prestigious Jimmy Watson award.

James Halliday "Tar & Roses produces wines inspired by the classic Mediterranean varietals and was named after the signature characteristics of Nebbiolo. The name also ties back to the winemaking team behind the venture, the legendary Don Lewis and his winemaking partner Narelle King. Narelle is carrying on the Tar & Roses tradition after Don's passing in 2017"

100% Riesling
Alcohol: 12.5%

Tar & Roses style of wines reflects the multi-region of Spain, Italy and Australia, as well as traditional winemaking alongside the new. All Tar & Roses wines are made using fruit grown in Heathcote, Strathbogie Ranges, Alpine Valley, King Valley and Priorat, Spain.

Central Victoria, Australia, is a region that's gained recognition for its flourishing wine industry. It's known for producing high-quality wines, particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, but also Chardonnay, Viognier, and other varietals. The area's diverse microclimates, varying soil types, and elevation contribute to the production of distinctive wines.

Riesling is a light-skinned, aromatic grape of German origin which is – if the majority of top wine critics are to be believed – the world's finest white wine grape variety. The Riesling vine holds a very different place in the wine world to such great grapes as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay. While these immensely popular varieties have conquered every corner of the winegrowing world, Riesling is conspicuously absent from the core wine regions of France, Spain and Italy. Riesling's home is the regions that trace the middle Rhine and the lower Mosel, two of Europe's great wine rivers.