This is one of Australia’s great Rieslings, separated from the rest not just by virtue of being grown in a very remote location, but by style. It’s sleek and dry as Aussie Rieslings generally are, but there’s lovely texture to it. It’s somewhere between pithy and powdery. It’s precise, packed tight with citrus fruit, and lengthy as all hell. The Isolation Ridge vineyard faces north and east with soils of ironstone gravel over clay. It’s been certified organic since 2009.

Judi Cullam and Barrie Smith planted on Isolation Ridge in 1988. And it is bloody isolated, 250km from Margaret River, inland from the Great Southern coast in Western Australia. Judi and Barrie’s kids and their families run the estate today. They remain consistently passionate about both Riesling and organics, and we love that.