Pale straw with green hues. Bright and zesty aromas. Kaffir lime power, fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice, with a hint of fennel spice. The palate has great depth of flavour with power, finesse, purity and natural acid balance.

This vineyard has classic Watervale soils – red loam over limestone with a westerly aspect. The limestone allows the soil to retain moisture, which assists the wine throughout periods of warm
weather, almost drought-proofing in the summer months.
The 2025 vintage, shaped by a particularly dry growing season with just half the average rainfall, has produced a wine of remarkable intensity and powerful early fruit expression. A taut acid spine,
intense yet delicate with fine flavours penetrating to the depths of the palate. 2025 also marks 25 years of Riesling produced by O’Leary Walker — a milestone that celebrates both heritage and finesse.

‘Elegant and pretty yet full of detail and poise…’

96 Points

“What a pretty thing this is! I always look forward to the O’Leary Walker Riesling releases and these 2025 newbies are superb. Run at this Watervale – it’s irresistible. Elegant and pretty yet full of detail and poise, the fragrance seizes your attention instantly. Bath salts, white field flowers, citrus blossom and green apple lift effortlessly from the glass flowing onto the palate with an attractive mouth perfume. Limes, lemons, green apple cordial and a fine line of riverstone minerality course their way through with a detailed chalky and talc finish. The value for money here is exceptional, not to mention the mouth feel and that perfume that is etched into my memory. What a ripper from an exceptionally dry year.”

QWine, 26 Aug 2025
96Points

‘Purity plus. ‘

96 Points

“If Polish Hill River represents the power of Clare Valley Riesling, Watervale represents the finesse, the purity. Nowhere is this better exhibited than in the 2025 vintage. While it was a challenging vintage, by all accounts, Riesling shone. It shows. Bright, lime green hues. Classic Watervale scents, arrestingly aromatic and delicate in jasmine, wildflowers, bath salts, fresh lime and citrus skin and apple. An intensity of lime flavour lies at the wine’s core, a Watervale trait, in sync with florals. It’s a vibrant, alive palate with an easy textural flow in lime, green apple, pear skin, touch of rosemary, Thai basil and wet slate minerality. Finely textured with powdery fine acidity. Purity plus. This beauty will still be looking good in 10-15 years.”

Winepilot, 31 Jul 2025
96Points

‘This is beautifully fragrant…’

96 Points

“Yet another superb Watervale Riesling from a pair of specialists (they are pretty good at other wines, as well). Treatment is largely traditional. The colour is a very pale lemon. This is beautifully fragrant with notes of limes, spices, lemons, white jasmine, grapefruit and a touch of river stones. A veritable citrus smorgasbord. Fresh and aromatic with a line of fine acidity, there is exceptional length in this immaculately balanced effort. There is focus and finesse here. Expect it to provide superb drinking for at least the next fifteen years.”

Winepilot, 31 Jul 2025
95Points

‘Quietly complex.’

95 Points

Pretty classic stuff here, albeit you’d say this release is quite concentrated and potent in its fruit characteristics. Lemon-lime, sweet and tart at the same time, green apple, distinct blackcurrant notes, a little lemon oil and dashes of mandarin marmalade. Lots of talc here, too – powdery, lavender-like, and with a little bit of grip in texture. Nice one. Quietly complex. This should be singing with another year and onwards – and do wait if you can.

Halliday Wine Companion 2026, 30 Jun 2025
95Points

‘There’s a beautiful pure intensity here…’

95 Points

This was an outstanding season in the Clare Valley region of South Australia, and this wine shows both the seasonal virtues and the expertise of these guys in producing some of the best Riesling in the land. On the nose, it strikes immediately with a mix of lemon and lime and some crazy floral notes. The palate, while slightly fleshy and showing deep and powerfully presented fruit, is lifted by those lemon and lime citrusy characters and a fine chalky acidity. There’s still a degree of tension here as you would expect in a wine only a few months after bottling, yet the power and the class are evident from the start. There’s a beautiful pure intensity here, and it’s a wine that drinks so well now but will handle extended cellaring.

Winepilot, 31 Jul 2025
93Points

‘There’s good power to this release…’

93 Points

“The nose is all lime and salted lemon but the palate introduces hay, pear skin, slate and crushed fennel. There’s good power to this release, good fruit, and some grip to the finish as well. It feels tight, which isn’t a bad thing at this early stage. This is a good release. There’s a whisper of reduction too, which works.”

The Wine Front, 17 Jul 2025
93Points

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