VICKERY
CURRENT RELEASES

2023 EDEN VALLEY RIESLING

95 POINTS - “Sadly, we lost John Vickery last year. The year this wine was produced. He was a titan of riesling in Australia & a wonderful fella to boot. The focus, precision & velocity of this wine is something else. Pristine lime & green apple notes, lightly cloaked in tones of jasmine & Christmas lily with hints of crushed quartz & fennel. There's a scorching cadence across the palate, steely & dry with a distinct riverstone savoury finish & shimmering minerality. Vale John.” Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY, Aug ‘24

93 POINTS - “Pale-ish colour; very fragrant lifted honeysuckle, almost lychee aromas, very cool-year scented. Juicy mid-palate, delicate & not totally dry, but a tickle of sweetness lifts the fruit. Refreshing & long on the finish, a very fragrant lighter-style riesling.” Huon Hooke, THE REAL REVIEW, Mar ‘24

2023 WATERVALE RIESLING

95 POINTS - “Dried flower and tropical fruit aromas, a bouquet of dried wildflowers, impressively rich & full in the mouth, with refinement & great length. A super-impressive young riesling.” Huon Hooke, THE REAL REVIEW, Mar ‘24

93 POINTS - “Quite concentrated with pure lime, apple & grapefruit, plenty of mineral swagger & cadence & a long, quite concentrated finish showing makrut lime, lemongrass & concentrated limey fruit.” Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY, Jan ‘24

93 POINTS - “This fine & subtle 2023 Riesling opens up with serene aromas of lime zest, lemon pith & hints of mandarin skin with stony/spicy complexity. Laser-like acidity follows, providing a taut experience, more stony nuances on display before delivering a powerful, yet feather-weight finish, accented by talcum powder tannin with quite phenomenal length to close. It’s a sleeper that will deliver plenty over time. Epic value.” Angus Hughson, WINEPILOT, Sep ‘23

2020 THE RESERVE WATERVALE RIESLING

96 POINTS - “From the Castine 'Hayshed' block in Watervale at 420m above sea level. Pale straw with mouth-watering aromas of freshly squeezed limes & hints of citrus blossom, wildflowers, lemongrass, crushed stone, apple skin & some faraway dried honey. It sports that wonderful tubular palate shape of a focused riesling. All sleekly crystalline & febrile, crackling with mineral drive & wonderfully pure fruit. Some classic Watervale sapidity on display here as the wine finishes pure as can be with a distinctly dry, rapier-like precision.” Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY, Aug ‘24

96 POINTS - “Light yellow colour, youthful for its age, & a superbly fresh & aromatic nose of fresh-cut flowers, lemon juice & pith, honey & citrus blossoms, the palate super-fine & delicate in its structure but marvellously intense in flavour, the acidity perfectly balanced & the finish very long & seamless, with perfect line. The finish is very dry & has a whisper of tannin assisting the dryness. A delicious wine, & one that should continue to age superbly.” Huon Hooke, THE REAL REVIEW, Apr ‘23

95 POINTS - “Pale & vibrant lemon-yellow colour. Lemon curd & fresh baked sourdough aromatics. Palate is supple & enveloping with the layers of fruit, spice & toasty development all melding together in harmony. Great length & persistence. Acidity is there but it stays quiet, doing essential work without interfering with the palate’s song.” Stuart Knox, THE REAL REVIEW, Nov ‘23

2021 THE RESERVE WATERVALE RIESLING

95 POINTS - “Sourced from the Castine Hay Shed block in Watervale. I've made an entry in my 'little book of vices' that I must purchase a case of this when it is released (October 2024). There's two reasons. Firstly, John Vickery sadly passed away in 2023, & drinking this wine will remind me of my conversations with him over the years. Secondly, it's a cracking wine. Perhaps a little more intensity than the 2020 release, but still it's all limey precision with citrus blossom, apple sorbet & dried honeyed overtones. Long, dry & pure with minerality to burn.” Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY, Aug ‘24

2021 THE RESERVE EDEN VALLEY RIESLING

95 POINTS - “This is a new wine for me amongst the Vickery Wines offerings. I'm glad I found it. From the stonkingly good 2021 vintage in the Eden Valley it shows all of the box ticking characters of a classic regional riesling. Pale with green flashes & aromas of Bickford's lime cordial, Christmas lily, pressed wildflowers, crushed quartz, apple sorbet & grapefruit pith. Just the merest tweak of texture on a palate that is focused & true, finishing dry, long & moreish with plenty of mineral velocity.” Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY, Aug ‘24

PREVIOUS RELEASES

2022 WATERVALE RIESLING

95 POINTS - “In the hands of masters like Keeda Zilm & the legendary John Vickery, great fruit becomes great wine. The Vickery Watervale Riesling ’22 is a real beauty. Intense, aromatic & in balance with citrus blossom, lime cordial, grapefruit & green apple layers underscored by taut acidity. Just grape, acidity & a little alcohol (12%), nothing else. What a magical mix. Precision plus, & all the ingredients are here for a long life.” Jeni Port, WINEPILOT, Dec ‘22

2022 EDEN VALLEY RIESLING

95 POINTS - “A rapier-like release from Riesling master John Vickery that celebrates all that is great about the Eden Valley. It's a picture of purity, precision & velocity with tight, limey fruit cut with high tones of Christmas lily, crushed quartz, orange blossom & river stone. Tight, vivid acidity has the wine riding on rails & setting a brisk cadence with uber-pure lime fruits powering through to the finish. It's quite lovely.” Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Feb ‘23

95 POINTS - “Open a bottle, pour a glass & stand back. Prepare yourself for the aromatic scent that can hit you like a hammer. This vintage is chock full of everything we love about Eden Valley Riesling in spades. My notes started to look like a shopping list: talc, white flowers, bath salts, white pepper, Thai basil, green apple, green papaya &, finally, dusty lemon. I added preserved lemon & ginger to the list when I finally tore myself away from the perfume & tasted the wine. You might say it’s complex, yes. Acidity is keen, at least more pronounced than its sister Riesling from Watervale & it’s sustained from go to whoa with good depth of concentration.” Jeni Port, WINEPILOT, Dec ‘22

2019 THE RESERVE EDEN VALLEY RIESLING

96 POINTS - “As much as I enjoyed their Watervale Reserve, I love this even more. A small parcel of fruit from the Zander Quarry vineyard was put aside to make their Reserve. The extra ageing potential it offered set it apart from the rest of the fruit. Hence, it was given an extra two years in the cellar by the team prior to release but will benefit from plenty more. A vibrant green/gold. This is a glorious Riesling nose. Spices, lemon sherbet notes, limes, florals. Just gorgeous, fine & focused with excellent length & crunchy acidity before lingering beautifully on the finish. A really good Riesling, thrilling now, but even better with another decade under its belt..…” Ken Gargett, WINEPILOT, Apr ‘22

95 POINTS - “Riesling sourced from the Zander family's Quarry block, which sits at 450m elevation in the Eden Valley growing area of Flaxman Valley. Straw in the glass with aromas of Bickford’s lime cordial, green apple, drying hay, marzipan, crushed quartz, pressed white flowers & river stone. Just beginning to take on some toasty characters & finishing long, complex & dry with a savoury, flinty exit. Lovely drinking.”
Dave Brookes, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Dec ‘22

95 POINTS - “… Time in bottle so far has brought excellent concentration & a real Eden Valley-style beauty & sense of place, not to mention attractive textural qualities…. Acidity is the quiet star. You know it’s there, you know it will keep the wine going for a good 10-15 years, possibly more…” Jeni Port, WINEPILOT, Apr ‘22

92 POINTS - “This is developing steadily & well. Lime jelly & lemon sorbet with whispers of kero & citrus leaf. Excellent intensity on the palate but with a fluid, soft, rolling feel to it. There’s plenty of time yet to run but right now this is lifted, energetic & soft at once; it’s in a great drinking place.” Campbell Mattinson, WINEFRONT, Apr ‘22

2019 THE RESERVE WATERVALE RIESLING

96 POINTS - “Clare Valley Vs Eden Valley riesling . . . what region comes out on top in this traditional & long-running battle for supremacy? Well, both do, of course. However, in this particular battle between the 2019 Vickery Eden Valley & 2019 Watervale rieslings, my heart – & top score – goes to the latter. There’s a brightness, freshness & energy in the Watervale riesling that is quite exciting. It’s looking younger, more vital than its Eden Valley sibling, juicier, too. It’s of a different style to be sure. I would drink the Watervale minus food & bring the Eden Valley out with something nice to accompany its richness.

The Watervale 2019 brings lifted apple blossom spring scents & grapefruit, concentrated Clare-style lime & citrus. There’s the merest hint of age emerging as you work through brisk, bright flavours of custard apple, mandarin skin, a touch of buttered toast & enveloping citrus. There’s a developing complexity here so it’s starting to reveal itself. It will also age well.” Jeni Port, WINEPILOT, Apr ‘22

94 POINTS - “For their 2019 ‘Reserve’ Watervale, the team has sourced two parcels of fruit from the Koerner vineyard, Blocks G1 & G4. They were kept separate as they were considered extra special & worthy of Reserve status. Who would know this better than Australia’s master Riesling craftsman, John Vickery? The Reserve wines get an extra two years ageing prior to release to assist in building complexity & to enable the early signs of development to form, but this wine certainly has many years to go & is delightfully fresh at the moment.

Pale straw/lemon in colour, with flecks of green, this is powerful & punchy. Notes of florals & even a touch of nettles, dry herbs, a hint of chalk & bright citrus. There is a minerally undertow & steely acidity here, serious paper cut acidity. Fine balance, this wine has a good 12 to 15 years ahead of it – wonderful Riesling. In a decade, the pittance you will have paid now will seem like the bargain of the century.” Ken Gargett, WINEPILOT, Apr ‘22