MAYFIELD ‘BACKYARD’ RIESLING 2022

92 POINTS, ROBERT PARKER WINE ADVOCATE , Erin Larkin
This 2022 Riesling is incredibly tight and mineral on the nose. Crushed shells, Dispirin (aspirin), tissue paper and lemon oil. In the mouth, the wine is featherlight and talc-y; the cool elevation of Orange (where this wine is from) imbues the wine with an airy yet grounded character. Super lovely. It’s delicate and lacy.

93 POINTS, WINE PILOT, Ken Gargett
We often think that Aussie Riesling starts and stops in the Clare and Eden Valleys, with the occasional cameo from the West. Wines like this put paid to that lie. A cooler climate, high altitude Riesling, this is near colourless, but that makes no difference to the exquisite nose with its elegant, ethereal aromatics. A mix of tropical notes, guava and passionfruit. Focused, balanced and moving to hints of citrus. Good acidity runs the length of the wine, while the tropical notes linger on the palate. Sure, this is very different to what we know and love from the Clare and Eden Valleys, but it is delicious, nonetheless. Drink now and for six to eight years.

MAYFIELD ‘SOPHIE’S GODMOTHER’ SAUVIGNON BLANC 2022

92 POINTS – ROBERT PARKER WINE ADVOCATE, Erin Larkin
This 2022 Sophia’s Godmother Sauvignon Blanc in blessed with a gorgeous nose: juniper, cassis, sugar snap pea, talc and crushed shells. In the mouth, the wine is tight as a drum, delicate and totally focused. Quite different from the Sauvignon Blancs from elsewhere, this is possessed of a distinctly powdery character (I’m not hinting at anything: it is airy, breezy and fine); I often write poudré, a reference to finely milled face powder. This has that inflection. The acid is a high point, and although there are things about the wine that suggest it will age several years with grace, I would be inclined to drink it in its extreme youth, such is the prettiness of the fruit.