Wild & Wilder The Courtesan Riesling 2020  £13.83

Wild & Wilder The Courtesan Riesling 

Wild & Wilder is all about good clean fun. Working hand in hand with their merry (in a good season) band of growers, they craft wines of supreme quality but don’t take it all too seriously.

Great fruit, grown by great people and made with a lot of love by people that know that wine is all about the good times, delicious food and creating great memories. Founded by Giles Cooke MW & Fergal Tynan MW, who also make the Thistledown wines, the mundane is just not in their DNA. Being involved in every stage of the winemaking process from bud burst to bottle means that every bottle from Wild & Wilder is an experience you’ll want to try again.

The fruit is sourced from Justin Ardill's easterly facing vineyard situated in the famed Watervale sub-region of the Clare Valley. The vines are grown on their own roots in a soil consisting of red clay over limestone. Yields at just 2 tons per acre are very low which ensures high quality, concentrated fruit.

Vinification, as one might expect with good fruit, is very simple. The grapes are picked in the cool of the morning and rapidly transported to the winery where they are lightly crushed and sent to press. For the Courtesan, we retain only the purest, free-run juice. The wine is fermented at a cool temperature in stainless steel to retain fruit profile and the finished wine is aged on its lees for 2-3 months before bottling.

Capturing all the mouthwatering lime and elderflower character one expects from great Riesling, the Courtesan has a voluptuous palate hinting at grapefruit, ripe melon and quince.  Try with whitefish, Asian food that includes ginger, lemongrass and coriander.