2008 Frankland Estate Poison Hill Vineyard Riesling (Frankland River, Western Australia)
Frankland Estate strikes again. 12% alcohol, under a screwcap as usual, my first experience with this particular vineyard bottling but it's really brilliant. Very pale yellow colour with a crazy nose of metal shavings, gravel, flowers, kerosene and lemon oil. Incredibly refreshing in the mouth with lots of acidity that gives it a sense of tremendous cut and precision, bone dry and light without feeling austere in any way, showing bright citrus fruits and kerosene flavours over intense mineral and metallic elements. Really awesome wine with a lot of complexity already in a light, elegant package that's all too easy to drink - a full bottle of this vanished very, very quickly between three of us, although I can only imagine how good this will be with some more time.
2006 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese * (Mosel, Germany)
It might have been the vintage or the fact that it was totally different in style and following a much lighter, drier Riesling (or both) - but this came across as an intensely sweet botrytis bomb. Smells like a huge Auslese with a ton of honey and apricot aromas over softer vanilla, peach and briny notes. Very sweet and rich in the mouth with more honeyed apricot, peach and tropical fruit flavours, although balanced well with good acidity underneath. Finishes very long with slate and salty notes emerging at the back end underneath the fruit and botrytis. Not quite what I expected as the other Selbach-Oster Spatlese I've had from 06 - both from this vineyard (the unstarred bottling) and Zeltinger Schlossberg - were far more elegant with brighter fruit and less botrytis, but still very enjoyable.