Australian Riesling under £10

DWWA Reguional Trophy

(Image credit: DWWA Reguional Trophy)

Find out who won the regional trophy for under £10. And the winner is...

2010 Tesco Finest Tingleup Riesling

There’s something about the name of this Western Australian Riesling that captures the imagination for its onomatopoeic resonance.

Tingleup suggests tongue-tingling, mouth-wateringly bright stuff and that’s precisely what this aromatic dry white is. Exclusive to Tesco, it was first sourced from Howard Park Wines by Phil Reedman MW, working at the time for the Tesco wine-buying department. Over the years, it has been one of the most consistently successful, not to mention best value,

wines of all in the Tesco Finest line-up.

While there’s a tendency to associate great Australian Riesling with South Australia’s Clare and Eden Valleys, the reality is that Western Australia’s Great Southern region has also forged a reputation in recent times for making good dry Riesling capable of ageing well.

No shrinking violet when it comes to its own brand, Howard Park regards itself as the region’s best Riesling producer with a history of over 24 years of production of the variety. Certainly, Reedman must have thought so when he approached Howard Park with a view to filling the Tesco Finest Riesling spot.

Howard Park was founded in 1986 by Jeff & Amy Burch, strong believers in the potential of Western Australia’s cool coastal climate for producing outstanding wines.

While Margaret River is generally considered superior for Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s the cold winters and cool nights of the vast Great Southern region, not to mention its old stony, low vigour, well-drained soils that seem better suited to the requirements of Riesling for the retention of natural acidity, varietal expression and minerality.

This year, the highly experienced winemaker Janice McDonald, ex Stella Bella, took over as chief winemaker and so the future of Tesco’s Finest Tingleup Riesling looks to be in safe hands.

Written by Anthony Rose

Anthony Rose is the wine correspondent of the Independent and i newspapers and contributes to various other publications, among them Decanter Magazine. He was a solicitor in a previous incarnation but decided it was time to get a steady job. He is co-chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards Australia panel and has won a number of awards for wine writing. In 2014 he published The Tapas Bar Guide (Grub Street, £10.99), co-authored with Isabel Cuevas, a guide to tapas bars in the UK. Anthony spends far too much of his time nosing his way around the world in wine competitions, having judged in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, California, Japan, China and France. He is fascinated by Japanese sake and is co-Chairman of the Sake International Challenge in Tokyo and teaches a consumer course at Sake No Hana in London. Anthony is also a published photographer and a founding member of The Wine Gang at ,. Anthony lives in South London and in what spare time he has, he likes to cook, eat and drink the best wines and sakes he can afford on a wine writer’s budget.