The Adelaide Hills isn’t so well known for Riesling. Tonight I tried this pair of wines from Kanta, which is a collaboration between Egon Müller and Michael Andrewartha of East End Cellars in Adelaide that’s been going since the 2005 vintage. The Balhannah vineyard is owned by Shaw & Smith, and the soils are sandy loam over red clay, with an average altitude of 420 metres.

Egon Müller Kanta Riesling 2009 Adelaide Hills, Australia
This is from the Balhannah Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, and it is made using wild yeast and extended lees contact. This is really aromatic with a bit of development on the nose (slight petrol and toast notes), and a palate with complex grapefruit, lemon, nut, toast and ripe apple notes. There’s also a bit of creaminess. This wine is textural and quite refined, with nice complexity. 91/100

Egon Müller Kanta Riesling 2014 Adelaide Hills, Australia
Tight, dry and quite mineral with lovely bright lemon and grapefruit characters. Steely and a bit nervy, this has lovely detail and really good acidity. There’s a citrussy precision to this wine with a hint of herbiness and very bright acidity. Long, mineral finish. This wine has edges and complexity. 92/100

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