Powell & Son wines have a story that begins in the early 1980s with David Powell. In 2014 his son Callum joined him in the family business.
The wines today are sourced from six different vineyard sites, all through both the Barossa and the Eden valleys in Australia.
Callum and David Powell lean into traditional, minimalist winemaking practices and work to produce wines that speak of the place where they were grown.
The family’s inspiration for winemaking has roots in the Rhone valley in France.
Powell & Son red wines are made from the classic Rhone varietals Shiraz, Grenache, and Mourvèdre (known as Mataro in Australia), and their whites are made up of Roussanne, Marsanne, and Riesling.
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Powell & Son Eden Valley Riesling Review
This is an absolutely classic Riesling, coming from a small five-acre vineyard planted over eighty years ago in Flaxman’s valley, a site that sits 480 meters above sea level.
All of the grapes are hand-picked before being a whole bunch pressed, stem and all. Then the grapes are cold settled and fermented dry before cold stabilization and, finally, bottling.
This is definitely a drier style of Riesling and features just enough residual sugar to balance out the acidity of the wine.
Powell & Son Eden Valley Riesling
- Brand: Powell & Son
- Country: Australia
- Region: Eden Valley
- Wine Type: White Wine
- Varietal: Riesling
- ABV: 12.5%
Appearance
The wine is a pretty bright straw gold color in the glass and features thin, delicate legs which form and fall slowly down the glass.
Smell
The wine boasts a clean nose with a sense of steely minerality, which is immediately present.
There are notes of petrol, bright citrus fruit, beeswax, and ripe green apples, along with a bit of pineapple and apricot present as well.
Crushed gravel, raw honey, and candied ginger pop on the finish giving the wine a nice bit of complexity which I enjoyed.
Taste
The flavors here follow the aromatics pretty faithfully. There is lots of tropical fruit, such as pineapple and papaya, upfront.
Then you get loads of stony minerality, fresh, raw honey, and hints of ginger and lime zest at the end.
The plentiful acidity here helps offset the intense fruit profile and keeps your mouth watering after each and every sip you take.
What Does Powell & Son Eden Valley Riesling Pair With?
Anything liberally spiced with highly aromatic herbs works well here.
Think chicken breast prepared with clove and allspice or pork tenderloin seasoned with cayenne pepper.
You could also go for any type of curry which doesn’t feature too much spice, as getting too spicy with it will mute some of the more subtle secondary notes found in the wine.
For cheeses, try moderately hard cheeses with a little bit of age to them.
I personally enjoy reaching for a chunk of fontina or Swiss, as I find that they work particularly well with this sort of aromatic wine.
What Wines Are Similar to Powell & Son Eden Valley Riesling?
Personally, I would recommend trying Rieslings from Washington state, such as Brooks, and Eroica from Chateau Ste. Michelle, and Kung Fu Girl by Charles Smith.
These bottles all demonstrate a bit more tropical fruit and less petrol-like characteristics and are equally food friendly across the board.
You could also go outside of the box a bit and do Gewurztraminer, which is another traditional aromatic white with lovely stone fruit and minerality, along with nice lychee characteristics.
Some of the best examples of Gewurztraminer tend to come from Alsace in France and from Germany, so start there!
Final Thoughts
I am a huge fan of this bottle. In fact, I recently featured it in a wine club that I work to put together for my day job.
I think that you would be hard-pressed to find a better quality bottle of Australian Riesling.