Rieslingfreak No. 4 Riesling, Eden Valley
Fruit for the Eden Valley Riesling is sourced from two vineyards situated between Eden Valley and Flaxman’s Valley. One Riesling vineyard is owned by Michael Mason, situated approximately 3kms north-west of the Eden Valley township. The vineyard is planted on shallow grey sandy loam over shale rock soil, and situated 450m above sea level. The average yearly rainfall is 700mm. The other vineyard is owned by Ben Zander, who is a grower for many well known and regarded Eden Valley Rieslings. The Zander vineyard is situated in Flaxman’s Valley 500m above sea level, soils loam over light-medium clay, with high quartz rock and gravel content. The vineyard has a rainfall of approximately 650mm per year.
Rieslingfreak was founded by winemaker John Hughes.
The inaugural vintage was 2009 with a single vineyard Clare Valley Riesling. After that, the Rieslingfreak portfolio expanded to include the Eden Valley and Polish Hill River regions, showing dry, off-dry, Kabinett, sparkling and fortified styles. Each wine is given a number to denote region and style.
John Hughes, Rieslingfreak
In 2016, John was a Young Gun of Wine finalist. He followed that with a clean sweep of the 2017 Royal Sydney Wine Show, winning five trophies–including Best in Show, the first time a Riesling had taken the gong since 2003. After a lifetime in the vineyard and eight years of graft, John Hughes became an overnight success. John is now considered to be amongst the great Riesling makers in Australia, taking the wine to new audiences and raising the standard for the industry.
