2002 Petaluma Riesling Hanlin Hill Vineyard

The 2002 Riesling is a light straw-colored effort offering notions of spring garden flowers, green apples, and under ripe apricots as well as peaches. Light to medium-bodied, steely, and austere, it is less consumer friendly than most recommended Rieslings, but well-made. I know Petaluma’s wines are considered by many Australian wine authorities as very ageworthy, but I purchased a lot of them when they were imported by Robert Chadderdon over twenty years ago, and their high acid levels only became more shrill with age. Once the baby fat fell away (by age 7-10), they became nearly undrinkable ... I’m speaking of the red wines, of course. So the message is obvious ... drink them young. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900