Rieslingfreak No.8 Polish Hill River Schatzkammer Riesling 2024

Aroma
The bouquet is sweetly scented with aromas of lemon sherbet, guava and hibiscus, which carry through onto the lusciously flavoured palate. This wine is low in alcohol, with a finely-tuned balance of succulent residual sweetness and crackling acidity that balances perfectly on a knife edge of precision.

Palate
The luscious sweetness flows across the tip of the tongue, carrying with it an array of sweet tropical and zesty citrus flavours, before seamlessly giving way to a line of electric acidity that drives the length of the palate to a clean, crisp finish. The perfect play of succulent sweetness versus zingy acidity is the ultimate hallmark of the very best examples of this unique style of Riesling.

Region notes
Sourced from our Polish Hill River vineyard, situated 5km South-East of the Clare township. The vineyard is owned by Rob and Lyn Jaeschke, who purchased the vineyard from Penfolds in 2010. The vineyard is on grey-brown loam, over sandy limestone and shale rock. Riesling Block “D6” which is specially selected for the No.8 is a tiny planting of just 0.4 ha, situated in a small gully bordered by a steep hill to the North, and the tree-lined bank of a creek to the South. The vines are approximately 20 years old, planted on 44-year-old root stock and are planted in an East-West direction.

Winemakers comments
While 2026 certainly put winemaking skills to the test, the entire range of Rieslingfreak Rieslings are a remarkable expression of refined elegance, purity, power, and poise. The almost perfect growing conditions leading into harvest clearly determined the quality and style potential, which endured the impact of the late season rains to deliver a sensational selection of distinct and distinguished Rieslings.

Vintage notes
In the lead up to the 2026 harvest, the drought conditions that had plagued the first half of 2025, were somewhat compensated by higher than average Spring rains which encouraged good early canopy growth in the vineyards. Colder and wetter conditions through November delayed flowering and fruit set, setting the early agenda for what was to be a relatively late harvest. As summer arrived, an extended period of dry weather with warmer than average temperatures, meant that sun protection and judicious irrigation was paramount throughout the ripening period, but proved perfect conditions for slow and steady ripening – the typical harbingers of an outstanding year for Riesling. Vintage officially commenced on the 5th of March – a full four weeks later than in 2025. Five days later the summer drought broke in spectacular fashion, with almost 90mm of rain falling in 48 hours. While the effects of this unprecedented rain event were felt across both Clare and Eden Valleys, quick response by our growers and cool heads in the winery were paramount to ensure that grape quality was maintained; and by the time the last of the juices made their way into ferment they were among the purest expressions of Riesling the Freaks have ever seen.
PH

2.48
acidity

11.7 g/L