If you've ever wondered what separates a good Riesling from a truly exceptional one, the answer is often right beneath your feet — or more precisely, beneath the vines.
In the Clare Valley, some of the most celebrated Riesling vines have been quietly growing for 40, 50, even 60+ years. And that age matters enormously. As a vine matures, its roots push deeper and deeper into the rocky, ancient soils that define the region. The vines are drawing from a far more complex and mineral-rich environment.
Old vines also naturally restrict their own yields. With age, a vine produces fewer, smaller bunches, channelling its energy into quality rather than quantity. Each individual berry becomes more intensely flavoured — packed with the citrus, floral, and slate-like mineral characters that Clare Valley Riesling is world-famous for.
There's also a resilience that comes with age. Older vines have weathered drought years, heat waves, and cool vintages. Their deep root systems give them access to subsoil moisture that helps them remain balanced even in challenging seasons. The consistency this delivers — vintage after vintage — is something winemakers treasure deeply.
Clare Valley Riesling is considered one of Australia's greatest white wines, and a handful of factors combine to make it so distinctive.
The place itself is fundamental. Clare Valley sits at altitude — around 400–500 metres above sea level — in South Australia's mid-north. The days are warm and sunny enough to ripen fruit fully, but the nights are remarkably cool, slowing ripening right down and preserving the natural acidity that is Riesling's lifeblood. Without that acidity, the wine would be flat and short-lived. With it, Clare Riesling can age for 10, 20, even 30+ years.
The soils play an equally important role. The valley's ancient terra rossa over limestone and slate-rich soils drain well, stress the vines just enough to limit yields, and contribute that characteristic flinty, mineral quality to the wine. You can almost taste the geology. The best Clare Rieslings come from vineyards with serious age behind them.
The flavour profile that results is quite unlike Riesling from anywhere else in the world — lime juice, lemon zest, and green apple when young, evolving over time into toasty, petrol-tinged complexity. The finish is long, dry, and mouth-wateringly taut.
It is this combination of cool nights, ancient soils, old vines, and a hands-off winemaking philosophy that very few regions in the world can match.
2024 Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling 11.5% 6x75cl £76.00
Several things set Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling apart from the crowd.
Tim uses only the juice which runs free from the press without applying any pressure, reflecting his commitment to quality and pure regionality. The wine stays delicate, clean, and intensely aromatic.
The Riesling is made from grapes grown at Tim Adams' own "Irelands" and "Bayes" vineyards, both planted over 30 years ago, alongside fruit from trusted long-term grower families. This combination of estate control and long-standing grower relationships gives him the ability to select only the best parcels each vintage.
Tim Adams' philosophy is to guide the fruit from vineyard to wine rather than making it into something else — the wines should taste like the varieties from which they are grown For Riesling, that restraint is everything.
The wine offers a glorious Clare Valley nose perfumed with limes, spices, grapefruit and florals, notably jasmine, with bright acidity and a minerally, chalky texture. It manages to be both immediately appealing when young and genuinely rewarding with age.
On the palate, the wine is crisp and lively, with intense, pristine flavours of citrus—primarily lemon and lime—that are both refreshing and persistent. There is a lovely minerality and a thread of natural acidity running through the wine, giving it structure and length.
The finish is clean and lingering, with a gentle floral lift and just a whisper of stone fruit sweetness.
It has long been regarded as a standout example of the Clare Valley style, consistently delivering year after year. That kind of reliability is rare and hard-won — it speaks to both the quality of the vineyards and the sureness of Tim's winemaking hand.
This is a wine that punches well above its price point and has built a fiercely loyal following, whether you love your Rieslings young and fresh or developed and complex, it is available for drinking any time over the next twenty years.
