I’m only marginally better than the “Steak with red” or “chicken with white” when pairing off food with wine.

Did I need a buttery Chardonnay to match the butter of the risotto, a rich Viognier to match the rich mushrooms, or a dry mouth puckering acidic Riesling or Grüner Vetliner just for the hell of it?

I had absolutely no idea.

When in doubt, ask the experts

So, I popped into Berry Brothers and Rudd on Harry Street (just off Grafton Street), for some advice. One of the guys there recommended the Hewitson Riesling 2005 from Eden Valley, South Australia.

Berry Brothers

The friendly chap in Berry Brothers described it as a dry acidic wine which “should cut through the richness of the risotto”, though I wasn’t sure what this “cutting through” meant, I was willing to give it a try.

Verdict on the Hewitson Riesling

Hewitson Riesling 2005: Eden Valley, South Australia

Smell: straight out of the fridge it smells a little like asparagus. After half an hour or so, it’s more like petrol.

Taste: a very dry (made my mouth pucker) mineraltaste, then lemon & lime, which after 30 minutes was more like pink grapefruit. There’s also a satisfying after taste that lasts a while.

So, that was what I think I tasted.

The important thing here is that taste is completely subjective, I like carrots, you may not, I smelled asparagus, you may smell “crushed nettles”, whatever they smell like (I’ve never tried - they’d leave a nasty stingy rash all over my nose, presumably).

However, just out of interest, I checked with the Hewitson’s description of their own Riesling to see was there any correlation with their description and my “palate“.

Hewiston’s own tasting notes

The 2005 vintage will be known as one of the very best vintages in South Australia and the 2005 Hewitson Eden Valley Riesling captures that good fortune. After a very cool Spring and early Summer, the weather turned into what we call an Indian Summer, with sustained warm, dry, sunny and mild weather right through to Winter. These perfect conditions allowed slow and even berry ripening and flavour development and the fruit was hand-picked in early April. The resulting wine is bursting with citrus flavours of lime and lemon, fantastic acidity, full flavour and Eden’s renowned talcum-like minerality on the finish

I think I did okay. Either I’m a wine genius or sometimes wine tasting isn’t that hard. But again, there’s no point in just agreeing with everyone else and feeling smug about it. This need to conform can go horribly wrong.

Happily, also on the Hewiston Riesling 2005 page, was a review from Decanter magazine’s June 2007 edition, none of which I could confirm, even after the fact:

Distinctive engaging stone fruit nose and exotic fruit (lychee, melon, mango) but bone dry. Good Concentration. Up to 5 years” Alex Hunt, Decanter Magazine, June 2007

Nope. I didn’t get a bit of that.

The details

  • Hewitson Riesling 2005, Eden Valley, South Australia
  • Price: €19.99
  • Alcohol content: 12%
  • Where: Berry Brothers & Rudd, Harry Street, Dublin