From science to wine
Rebecca TaylorOne such winemaker is Andrew Hedley from Framingham in Marlborough. He is an exuberant character, with a bit of a punk rocker attitude, and he makes some excellent wine. The Rieslings from Framingham are a particular favourite of mine, and carry some sentimental value as an early wine moment for me was drinking some aged Framingham Classic Riesling one Christmas afternoon many years ago with my dad.
Framingham produces several different Rieslings under two complementary labels. Sitting alongside the standard Framingham wines is the “F Series”, a family of wines that are a bit less mainstream and packed with personality. I was lucky enough to taste several different Rieslings from both the standard and F series over an extremely pleasant couple of hours. We tasted them in ascending levels of sweetness.
We started with the Framingham Dry Riesling 2004. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this vintage is the current release! The amount of money tied up in holding the wines back before releasing them must be substantial, but apparently the wines are austere to the point of being unapproachable when first released, so I’m glad they do. This wine is beginning to develop some secondary characters, with nutty, toasty notes, honeyed lemons and a balanced acidity. The palate is quite creamy in texture, and it feels great in the mouth. $37.90.
Next we tried the F-Series Old Vine Riesling 2010, which is a much faster developing wine than the dry Riesling and doesn’t show the kind of meanness in its youth that is in its sister. Delicate florals, apples and stonefruit lead to a lemony finish. Again the texture is very generous. $39.90
Framingham Classic Riesling 2009 is a dangerously easy drop. The slightly higher sugar content helps to give it a bit of breadth, and lovely notes of stonefruit and mandarin are present on the palate. $24.90.
Framingham Select Riesling 2010 is quite a yellow colour, showing heady florals, peach, grapefruit and sherbet notes with a hint of meal. Brisk acidity balances against the sweetness. $37.90.
Framingham Noble Riesling 2011 is viscous, showing tinned apricots and syrup, great weight, some straw notes and yellow florals. On the finish I got a real lemon cheesecake character. $39.90.
Vineyard conditions were perfect for botrytis last season, and in the best mad-scientist fashion, Andrew Hedley made a range of sweet wines following the German Praedikat system, which defines the wines according to sweetness and quality. I haven’t had a chance to try them, but I’ve heard amazing things from those who have. They’re not cheap, but would make a marvellous treat on the table at Christmas.









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