Dandelion Vineyards Enchanted Garden of the Eden Valley Riesling

Dandelion Vineyards is the venture of self-titled ‘typist’ Zar Brooks, his winemaking wife Elena and growers Carl Lindner and Brad Rey, with wines made from the Barossa and Eden Valleys, Fleurieu and McLaren Vale. Nick Stock, one of Australia’s leading journalists, has described Dandelion as follows: ‘Brooks has teamed up with his winemaking wife Elena, a woman whose talents are outweighed only by her tolerance, in an exciting new venture called Dandelion Vineyards. The approach is remarkably simple and sees Elena making wine from a suite of beautiful old vineyards identified by Carl Lindner and Brad Rey across that blessed curve that runs from the Barossa, up through the Eden Valley and Adelaide Hills and down into McLaren Vale.

Vineyards

The ‘Enchanted Garden’ vineyard was planted in 1910 and thrives to this day; a 2.8 hectare Eden Valley site lovingly tended by Sue and Stuart Woodman. The soils consist of sandstone bedrock with ironstone gravels, quartz and red rock fragments on the surface, which provide great minerality for this Riesling.

Vinification

Whole bunches were hand picked and destemmed without crushing the fruit to fill the press exactly. The free-run juice and pressings were fermented separately in small tanks at controlled temperatures between 11-13C. The wine was bottled directly with minimal fining and filtration to capture the essence of the vineyard.

Tasting Notes

Clear and bright with a golden colour, this wine is pure and powerful. Beautiful aromas of honeysuckle, lemon peel, and sherbet are framed by musk and rose petal aromatics. The palate exhibits a deep citrus flavour complemented by tart green apple and pineapple flavours. A taut acidity brings the fruit flavours forward, toward a mouth watering finish.