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98
/ 100
James Suckling
Dessert
Classification
Riesling
Variety
2020
Vintage
750ml (Bottle)
Bottle Size
New Zealand
Country
Wairarapa, Martinborough
Region
9.0%
Alcohol %
15 Plus Years
Cellaring
Scores
98 / 100"Pear tart, peach tart, as well as crisp acidity and minerality. Medium-bodied with intense sweetness and depth with great acid balance. Natural honey. 166 grams of residual. 1,342 half bottle made. Terrific botrytised sweet wine. Drink or hold."
- James Suckling
Tasting Notes
Consistently ranked as one of New Zealand's best Rieslings. An absolute collectors item, and incredibly rare, this year this wine is ever rarer, as winemaker Hiro Kusuda was able to make a tiny amount of Botrytis-infected grapes. Every single berry was hand harvested and slowly fermented to make this exquisite dessert wine.
Hiro Kusuda was born in Tokyo where he worked as a lawyer before a stint in Australia. Along the way his love affair with wine and winemaking grew, and eventually he set off to complete his studies at Geisenheim in Germany before moving to Martinborough in New Zealand to make hand crafted Pinot Noir. Kusuda is known for attention to detail, to the point that each berry is picked individually at harvest by his Japanese friends that fly out each year to assist. Naturally this precision comes at a cost, in particular the miniscule volumes produced, and as such stocks are extremely limited.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Low Tannin
- Tannic
- Sweet
- Dry
- Low Acidity
- High Acidity