Rieslingfreak - Australia's Best 2025
Rieslingfreak: Reverence of Riesling
Rieslingfreak, a name synonymous with exceptional quality in the Riesling landscape, has once again proven its mastery with the 2023 Rieslingfreak No. 12 Flaxman Valley Riesling. This wine, hailing from the cool climate of Eden Valley in South Australia, has been crowned Australia’s Best Riesling in the prestigious 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Awards—a title that reflects not just the quality of the wine but the dedication and precision of its creators, John Hughes and his team.
2023 Rieslingfreak No.12 Flaxman Valley Riesling
Australia's Best Riesling - 2025 Halliday Wine Companion
Rieslingfreak's meticulous approach to winemaking is evident in every bottle. The 2023 vintage, in particular, overcame challenging conditions to produce wines with a remarkable balance of flavor intensity and natural acidity. The No. 12 Riesling exemplifies this with its layered complexity, making it not only an immediate pleasure but also a candidate for long-term aging. As Huon Hooke noted, this Riesling is destined for greatness, capable of evolving beautifully over the next decade
The Real Review:
🏆 Top Wineries of Australia 2023: Rieslingfreak
Only 12 Tasting Packs available… with one bottle of each Riesling below!
2023 Rieslingfreak No.12 Flaxman Valley Riesling
98 points & Halliday Riesling of the Year!
This is electric. So much vigour and perkiness, a vibrant and poised white that delivers strong mineral charm, beautifully brittle acidity and tension and length in spades. Ultra floral scents with lime, blackcurrant, white pepper, talc, flint, warm steel and chamomile.
2024 Rieslingfreak No.2 Polish Hill River Riesling
96 points Shanteh Wale, Winepilot
“… The wine has an almond shell creaminess and finishes with a taut sea spray salinity. It shouts of pure lime pith with a clean laser like acidity. This is shockingly focused and impeccably balanced. Fruit is amplified by savoury edges and flavours of inorganic matter. Steel wool, quartz and concrete. It’s otherworldly, to be perfectly honest, quite hard to describe. It’s ethereal. All I can say is this is what you’d drink at the pearly gates, if you’ve been good of course. Drink now and will age glacially for another 20 years.”
2024 Rieslingfreak No.3 Clare Valley Riesling
97 points, Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot
"From the family White Hutt vineyard. Immediate white florals unfurl from the glass. Jasmine and flannel flower. Green Alphonso mango skin, orange blossom and pink lady apple. It’s tightly coiled with a touch of spritz that relaxes and opens to white stone fruit and lemon peel. Acidity, although upright as expected, is surprisingly unified in the wine. The fleshiness of white peach is gathering momentum. This feels like it’s been getting to know itself in the bottle for longer than it has. Ready for drinking but of course another 10-15 years of jubilant life ahead of it yet. Drink with peach and arugula salad with crumbled ghost cheese."
2024 Rieslingfreak No.4 Eden Valley Riesling
94 points Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot
"Passion flower, Feijoa and frangipani blooms. Stoney and mineral with a cucumber melon freshness. High toned and electric acidity, this wine has power almost beyond measure. Twinged in all the right places for long term cellaring. The palate has a lacey skin texture, coupled with blue stones and running river water. It’s graceful and yet demands your attention with a casual firm grip. A wine for white meats like poached chicken salads and slices of pork medallion."
2024 Rieslingfreak No.8 Polish Hill River Schatzkammer (off dry)
96 points Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot
"What a journey this wine takes you on. At first glance you’ll find Buddha’s hand citrus, citron and grapefruit. A touch of magnolia and sage leaf. There is an earthy oyster mushroom and sandstone quality. Then BAM Smack your lips and call me betty. A waterfall of dill, pickled radish and guava. The vineyard shines here with sweetness perfectly matched to suit the character of the fruit. It’s JUST right and a demonstration as to why you need to be a freak of all things Riesling to produce wine this good. Cellar for another 20 years if you have the patience of a saint. Serve with luscious pork belly.”
2024 Rieslingfreak No.5 Clare Valley Off (Dry Riesling)
97 points Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot
"Look away if you don’t want to be utterly seduced, for you have now been warned. In a vintage such as 2024 the off dry styles of riesling from Rieslingfreak are something to be savoured. Cascading star jasmine, mock orange and gardenias are blooming. A trickle of fresh running stream over blue stone. Lily pily, pomelo and golden kiwi. A crunch of green apple on the palate leads to a tickle of sweetness in all the right places. It will make you giggle till you groan. For there is tension and energy in every sip. A sake-like freshness and transparency of Clare Valley fruit that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world. This is magnificent stuff. Drink with Prawn Cheung Fun and glory in a pairing fit for kings."
