The new Castle Rock Estate Rieslings have been released to coincide with the launch of a range of new winery experiences at the Castle Rock Estate winery.
The Porongurup estate grown Rieslings include the 2024 Castle Rock Estate ‘A&W’ Riesling ($50), 2023 ‘Diletti Riesling ($42), 2024 Estate Riesling ($35), 2024 ‘RS21’ Riesling ($28), and the 2024 ‘Skywalk’ Riesling ($28).
The new Wine Experiences comprise Tours and Wine Flights at the winery. “The new experiences are designed to offer our visitors a deeper understanding of our region and the wines that we grow,” says owner and winemaker Rob Diletti.
“We are sharing ‘Wine Flights’ of either our Rieslings or our range of Pinot Noir in the cellar door. These group tastings are of the two varieties that we strive to excel in, and those that the Porongurup region does so well.”
“Alternatively, guests can choose the 60 minute ‘Guided Vineyard and Winery Tour’. This is the first time that we have opened our winery and vineyard to visitors. We are excited to lift the curtain and show behind the scenes of our winemaking. I spend a lot of time in the vineyard during the growing season, and all my time in the winery during vintage, so it will be good to share this with our customers.”
“The third experience is our ‘Private Wine Flight (Riesling or Pinot Noir) in the Winery’. This tasting, set within our winery barrel room, delves into our winemaking practices, with insights and tastings.”
The newly released Rieslings comprise a spectrum of styles for the variety. “These are wines with fruit purity, finesse and balance; wines that reflect the unique Porongurup region.
“We have been making our Estate Porongurup Riesling for 38 years using grapes grown from our three Riesling blocks. The wine is made using only the free run juice (the first 450L/tonne). It underwent a cool ferment in stainless steel with a short maturation prior to bottling. This is a wine with great longevity that truly reflects our site without winemaking intervention.
“Our other Rieslings explore the region through various winemaking lenses. Like the Estate Riesling, the ‘A&W’ Riesling uses free run juice, with the fruit handpicked, then whole bunch pressed, resulting in even less phenolic extraction from the skins. This provides fine delicate juice of exceptional quality, with prominent acid structure, a supple mid-palate weight and lifted aromatics. Cool fermentation preserves the fruit expression, followed by extended lees contact during five months of maturation to build texture to complement the pristine Riesling fruit.”
Pricing and distribution: The Castle Rock Estate wines are distributed in NSW by IS Wine, in Victoria by Wholesale Wine Services and in WA by Fine Wine Wholesalers. The wines are available at castlerockestate.com.au
- 2024 Castle Rock Estate ‘A&W’ Riesling (Porongurup, WA): $50
- 2023 Castle Rock Estate ‘Diletti’ Riesling(Porongurup, WA): $42
- 2024 Castle Rock Estate Riesling (Porongurup, WA): $35
- 2024 Castle Rock Estate ‘RS21’ Riesling (Porongurup, WA): $28
- 2024 Castle Rock Estate ‘Skywalk’ Riesling (Porongurup, WA): $28