RIPPON
2018 'Rippon' Mature Vine Riesling
Grapes | Riesling |
Colour | White |
Origin | New Zealand, South Island |
Other | Practising Organic, Bio-dynamic |
District | Central Otago |
ABV | 13% |
The earliest harvest ever at Rippon, after rain in March caused an explosion in the ripening process. Picked from 15th March at 23 brix and 3.1pH. A fresh deep ruby colour, with very evident power to the nose, possibly at the expense of elegance. This was a very hot summer. A little leathery note is indicative of tannins. A full sweet ripe raspberry and peony profile, plus boiled cherries on the palate. Brawny and lush yet with Rippon tannins behind. A little graphite as well. If all goes well, the 2018 will settle down into a complex wine in due course. Drinking range: 2026 - 2032 Rating: *** Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy (Sept 2024)
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Apple, citrus and crushed-stone notes all mingle easily on the nose of the 2018 Mature Vine Riesling. It's a steely, nearly dry and powerful wine, with ample weight on the palate and tremendous length, the crisp finish echoing with hints of apple, lime, vegetable oil and dried spices and ending on texturally edgy granules of decomposing granite. Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 93 Joe Czerwinski, www.robertparker.com (Mar 2020)
A warmer season has delivered much in the way of texture and flavor here. The concentration is really striking. Very fragrant with mouthwatering aromas of fresh and ripe lemons, light pastry-like, savory nuances and impressive, stony, flinty notes. The palate has a smooth, sleek and succulent feel. The weight and freshness here is staggering. Refined, long and piercing, the lemon and grapefruit flavors carry so fresh. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Rating: 96 Nick Stock, www.jamessuckling.com (Oct 2019)
Rippon
Nick Mills returned home after several years away, working with the likes of Alain and Sophie Meunier at Domaine JJ Confuron, and Pascal Marchand (late of Domaine Comte Armand and then at Domaine de la Vougeraie). This experience with some of the leading players in Burgundy fired him up with enthusiasm, and we are already seeing the fruits of his experience in the changes in viticulture (to bio-dynamism) and the increased depth of mineral complexity in the wines.
Nick Mills on Biodynamics: 'Granted custodianship over this very special piece of land, the family's principle goal is to create vins de terroir, wines that are an accurate reflection of their surroundings. It is the micro-life in our soils which, in their ability to metabolise minerals into a form that vines can assimilate, are the link in between plants and the earth. This simple biology is the essential framework in producing a wine which is true to its soil and site. With this understanding comes an absolute respect for the land and life therein and it is for this reason that Rippon is run biodynamically.
Decisions made in the vineyard and winery first consider the effect the outcome may have on the micro-flora of the soils, vines & wines. Rippon does not use herbicides, fungicides, pesticides or soluble nitrogenous fertilisers on the property. All the property's organic waste matter is recycled to make around 40 tonnes of fungal dominant compost every year. This is spread back over the land during the first descending moon after harvest as an inoculation of beneficial micro-flora for the whole property...and thus starts a diverse and vital web of life on which to live and produce.
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