Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Riesling 2016

Loosen Barry Wolta Wolta Riesling 2016

Legacy story here - back in 2020, about a week before the country shut down for Covid, the Barry's and Ernie Loosen hosted trade from around the country up in Clare to showcase this groundbreaking project. Unbeknownst to all of the attendees, we were being shown what we thought was the first ever release - the 2017. Iconic vintage for the Clare Valley, multiple country wide trophies from the region and the story all made sense! However, the first wine made in the project was from the 2016 vintage and it absolutely pushed the boundaries on what a Germanic GG style Riesling could look like when made in Australia.

The '16 was compact, reductive and too hard early doors, whilst the '17 was open available and aromatic so was shown as the original "first wine". Sitting with Tom, Sam and Ernie earlier this year looking at each wine made in the project we discussed the role that reduction plays in Riesling - Ernie quoted his grandfather who put it as 'the more stink earlier - the better. Natural preservation via reduction'. There's a window of these wines that move through this reductive, almost teenage angst phase, and come out the other side shining - with exotic fruit and intensity that hits at just after the 7-9 year mark. This was evident in our 10 year tasting, 2018 and 2019 just showing signs of that reduction, almost blossoming out the other side - whilst the wait required for the 2016 to finally come to life has been worth it, a wine of immense pleasure and exoticism, somewhat hedonistic and finally available for purchase! 

100% single-vineyard Riesling. Alcohol 12.5%; total acid 7.4g/L; pH 3.11

The modern-day standard bearer for all Clare Valley Riesling, Wolta Wolta, is a dry German-style Riesling, an “Aussie GG” if you will. Its name, meaning ‘Good Water’ in the Aboriginal language, was the original name given to the land on which the Barry’s famous The Lodge Vineyard is planted.

Wolta Wolta is grown on Block 18 of The Lodge Vineyard, planted in 1979.  This block was specifically chosen because of its location in a slightly cooler pocket of the vineyard, allowing for additional hang-time to coax out maximum flavour, concentration and phenolic ripeness – a nod to the methods cherished in the Mosel at Dr. Loosen. – Sam Barry, Loosen Barry

Destemmed and crushed, the fruit was then pressed into stainless steel for 12 hours to settle, before being racked into 3,000 litre German oak ‘Fuder’ cask. The wine then rested on full yeast lees for 23 months at 10˚C before being transferred to stainless steel where it sat on fine lees at 1˚C for a further 1 month.

"Zesty, mandarin with some evocative exotic fruit, incredible balance of youthful high toned fruits like kumquat and some lime zest that moves toward developing characters like marmalade and a suggestion of buttered toast. Pockets of chalk and quartzite frame the fruit, balanced by a touch of wood and baking spice. Swathes of textures here, pulpy in the mouth, very powerful profile with that orange crush character but the tension provided from the phenolics and acid line provide immense freshness and drive. Incredibly moreish and such a balanced wine that's just beginning its journey of evolution" - from our 10 years of LoosenBarry tasting

There’s a sticker on the bottle that says $170 so this may be a museum release. More on that later. This has gloss and shine, a slip and slide of lemon-lime, a sizzle of sherbetty, orangey tang in the midst, green apple, hazy, yes, and some cumquat and mandarin juice going on. It shows some gingery elements, a crackling and lively thing with spice and friskiness in tow. Yes, development, but metered. It’s in a great place. 95 Points - Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

The first Wolta Wolta made, hitherto unreleased. It was deemed too withdrawn alongside the 2017, but has since evolved beautifully. Candied lime and nashi pear. A little anise spice. Supple texture, gentle fullness leaning into a crushed cashew creaminess. Graceful and unwavering acidity. 96 Points - Nick Ryan, The Australian