2024 Wellington & Wolfe Riesling $42

12/04/2025

Winemaker Hugh McCulloch was bitten by the wine bug while studying Modern History at St Andrews University in Scotland. The Wellington & Wolfe brand he established in the Tamar Valley in 2017 references his boyhood passion for 18th century military history and two famous British generals in particular.

Curious starting point, you might think. Oddly enough, this wine sets my mind running off on a different tangent. I'm a big fan of the lean, steely/minerally Rieslings produced in Austria's Wachau Valley. This current release might have vineyard origins in the north of this State but it speaks to me with an Austrian accent. I like that.

The winemaking here follows typically northern European methodology. Its handpicked fruit underwent extended skin contact before partial fermentation in old French oak barrels. That process was followed by extended lees contact in order to add flesh and texture to its somewhat light-bodied framework. (The wine weighs in at a neat 12 percent alcohol.)

Now 18 months of age, this is a Riesling with years of further development in front of it if bottle-aged wines play a part in your drinking habits. The wine is bright and practically clear and water-like in the glass. A good swirl reveals lime/citrus, green apple and white flower aromatics, with mandarin overtones and a briny/stony minerality. The lime/citrus flavours pass across the palate with laser precision and continue on to infinity. Or so it seems. I love the lightness of touch here, along with the wine's overall balance and finesse. It's really very smart indeed.

Source: Evenfall cellar door