Pewsey Vale

Eden Valley · Australia

Founded in 1847

In 1847 the Englishman Joseph Gilbert planted a vineyard at around 500 metres in the Eden Valley — and became the first to plant Riesling in Australia. The vineyard is called Pewsey Vale. The Great Depression abandoned it. In 1961 Geoffrey Angas Parsons and Wyndham Hill-Smith, of the family behind Yalumba, restored the property and replanted 56 hectares of Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. Altitude is the whole difference: the cold Eden Valley nights hold the acidity, and the Riesling comes out dry, taut and with the line of lime that lets it age for decades. Contours, from the oldest block, is not released until it has had five years in bottle. Our catalogue carries Pewsey Vale Estate Riesling.