2022 Duke's K2 Riesling
Critic Scores and Reviews:
97 points, Huon Hooke - The Real Review
Ranked #1 of 54 2022 Riesling from the Great Southern
A hyper-intense fragrant bouquet, lifted dried wildflowers, lemon pith, dry straw and dried herb aromas. The wine is tremendously intense and delicate at the same moment; a wonderful mouthful of riesling, scintillating freshness and intensity delivered with harmony and great persistence. Mouth-watering acidity and tremendous poise.
96 points, Ray Jordan - Wine Pilot
Now here is something special. There is more than a touch of Old World in this distinctive wine that delivers with panache. A portion was barrel fermented and extended lees contact added further texture. There’s a flinty edge here with distinctive bath salts. This was a very tough vintage, with rain after some intense heat, yet with fastidious vineyard work the result has been outstanding. It’s a riesling with a difference and well worth checking.
95+ points, Erin Larkin Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2022 Halo Range K2 Riesling marks the first time (to my knowledge) that there has ever been an inclusion of oak in the maturation of any Riesling at this estate. While it is evident on the nose, it comes in the form of cold buttered toast, honeysuckle, beeswax, lanolin, peach fuzz, dried lavender and a lime pickle (with mustard seed and lime rind in profusion) character. In the mouth, the flavors are as the nose has promised, punctuated by searing acidity (a pH of 2.9 and total acidity of 8.2 grams per liter) that whistles across the tongue like wind through a keyhole. It is coiled, but it has breadth and richness too. This is a good move for this tiny region, an oak-matured Riesling. I've been begging producers for something like this for years. This is the first but hopefully not the last. I look forward to seeing it again in five years.
95 points, Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion
Some of the wine is barrel fermented in matured oak; aged on lees. It's a great textural experience, a more mellow expression of Porongurup riesling, intriguing in its slippery glide of fruit, gentle yeasty savoury elements and faint floral and spice notes. It feels complex and generous but held well in its crispish outer edges of texture. Lots of Meyer lemon, candied ginger, lemongrass, red apple and grapefruit here. Very elegant, is the other message, just so in its gentle but precise nature. This is one for big glasses and contemplation.
Halliday Top 5 Star Winery
Halliday defines top five-stars as "Outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity"
Producer Tasting Notes:
A blend of new and old blocks, the K2 is the first time a Duke's Vineyard Riesling has ever seen some oak. Partially barrel fermented in seasoned oak, aged on lees and rested in bottle for a year before being released in August 2023, this wine is a textural wonder. 'K2' stands for 'Koolbardi Kard' which means Magpie Hill in the local indigenous Noongar language. Only 110 cases and limited magnums produced.
Critic Scores and Reviews:
97 points, Huon Hooke - The Real Review
Ranked #1 of 54 2022 Riesling from the Great Southern
A hyper-intense fragrant bouquet, lifted dried wildflowers, lemon pith, dry straw and dried herb aromas. The wine is tremendously intense and delicate at the same moment; a wonderful mouthful of riesling, scintillating freshness and intensity delivered with harmony and great persistence. Mouth-watering acidity and tremendous poise.
96 points, Ray Jordan - Wine Pilot
Now here is something special. There is more than a touch of Old World in this distinctive wine that delivers with panache. A portion was barrel fermented and extended lees contact added further texture. There’s a flinty edge here with distinctive bath salts. This was a very tough vintage, with rain after some intense heat, yet with fastidious vineyard work the result has been outstanding. It’s a riesling with a difference and well worth checking.
95+ points, Erin Larkin Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2022 Halo Range K2 Riesling marks the first time (to my knowledge) that there has ever been an inclusion of oak in the maturation of any Riesling at this estate. While it is evident on the nose, it comes in the form of cold buttered toast, honeysuckle, beeswax, lanolin, peach fuzz, dried lavender and a lime pickle (with mustard seed and lime rind in profusion) character. In the mouth, the flavors are as the nose has promised, punctuated by searing acidity (a pH of 2.9 and total acidity of 8.2 grams per liter) that whistles across the tongue like wind through a keyhole. It is coiled, but it has breadth and richness too. This is a good move for this tiny region, an oak-matured Riesling. I've been begging producers for something like this for years. This is the first but hopefully not the last. I look forward to seeing it again in five years.
95 points, Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion
Some of the wine is barrel fermented in matured oak; aged on lees. It's a great textural experience, a more mellow expression of Porongurup riesling, intriguing in its slippery glide of fruit, gentle yeasty savoury elements and faint floral and spice notes. It feels complex and generous but held well in its crispish outer edges of texture. Lots of Meyer lemon, candied ginger, lemongrass, red apple and grapefruit here. Very elegant, is the other message, just so in its gentle but precise nature. This is one for big glasses and contemplation.
Halliday Top 5 Star Winery
Halliday defines top five-stars as "Outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity"
Producer Tasting Notes:
A blend of new and old blocks, the K2 is the first time a Duke's Vineyard Riesling has ever seen some oak. Partially barrel fermented in seasoned oak, aged on lees and rested in bottle for a year before being released in August 2023, this wine is a textural wonder. 'K2' stands for 'Koolbardi Kard' which means Magpie Hill in the local indigenous Noongar language. Only 110 cases and limited magnums produced.
Critic Scores and Reviews:
97 points, Huon Hooke - The Real Review
Ranked #1 of 54 2022 Riesling from the Great Southern
A hyper-intense fragrant bouquet, lifted dried wildflowers, lemon pith, dry straw and dried herb aromas. The wine is tremendously intense and delicate at the same moment; a wonderful mouthful of riesling, scintillating freshness and intensity delivered with harmony and great persistence. Mouth-watering acidity and tremendous poise.
96 points, Ray Jordan - Wine Pilot
Now here is something special. There is more than a touch of Old World in this distinctive wine that delivers with panache. A portion was barrel fermented and extended lees contact added further texture. There’s a flinty edge here with distinctive bath salts. This was a very tough vintage, with rain after some intense heat, yet with fastidious vineyard work the result has been outstanding. It’s a riesling with a difference and well worth checking.
95+ points, Erin Larkin Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2022 Halo Range K2 Riesling marks the first time (to my knowledge) that there has ever been an inclusion of oak in the maturation of any Riesling at this estate. While it is evident on the nose, it comes in the form of cold buttered toast, honeysuckle, beeswax, lanolin, peach fuzz, dried lavender and a lime pickle (with mustard seed and lime rind in profusion) character. In the mouth, the flavors are as the nose has promised, punctuated by searing acidity (a pH of 2.9 and total acidity of 8.2 grams per liter) that whistles across the tongue like wind through a keyhole. It is coiled, but it has breadth and richness too. This is a good move for this tiny region, an oak-matured Riesling. I've been begging producers for something like this for years. This is the first but hopefully not the last. I look forward to seeing it again in five years.
95 points, Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion
Some of the wine is barrel fermented in matured oak; aged on lees. It's a great textural experience, a more mellow expression of Porongurup riesling, intriguing in its slippery glide of fruit, gentle yeasty savoury elements and faint floral and spice notes. It feels complex and generous but held well in its crispish outer edges of texture. Lots of Meyer lemon, candied ginger, lemongrass, red apple and grapefruit here. Very elegant, is the other message, just so in its gentle but precise nature. This is one for big glasses and contemplation.
Halliday Top 5 Star Winery
Halliday defines top five-stars as "Outstanding winery regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity"
Producer Tasting Notes:
A blend of new and old blocks, the K2 is the first time a Duke's Vineyard Riesling has ever seen some oak. Partially barrel fermented in seasoned oak, aged on lees and rested in bottle for a year before being released in August 2023, this wine is a textural wonder. 'K2' stands for 'Koolbardi Kard' which means Magpie Hill in the local indigenous Noongar language. Only 110 cases and limited magnums produced.
