Celebrate International Riesling Day the right way with these 10 bottles

Riesling is a wonderfully versatile wine. It can be enjoyed young or with age, and made in a range of styles, from dry to sweet and everything in between. Drier, leaner examples typically show zesty, juicy flavours of lemon, lime and tart Granny Smith apples, whereas riper expressions show richer, warmer flavours such as apricot, pineapple and ginger. As it ages, it develops nutty and honeyed characters.

Riesling can be found in many Australian wine regions. As Jeni Port says: "The Clare and Eden Valleys have the history and runs on the board, but the emergence of other regions has significantly broadened the grape’s repertoire." These include regions such as WA’s Great Southern, NSW's Orange, and Waipara in New Zealand. 

Friday March 13 is International Riesling Day. Celebrate the occasion by trying one of the following 10 riesling wines.

2025 Boston Bay Icon Series Riesling, Peninsulas Zone SA

The riesling from this address is generally solid, and in '25 we see a slightly greener example with gooseberry and lime sherbet edges. Bath salts and grapefruit fill out the frame with grippy acidity. Some saline, sea breeze undercurrents, too. This bright, zesty wine is a perfect accompaniment to leafy salads and white proteins. – Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion.

Boston Bay says: Grown meters from the Southern Ocean at Boston Bay, this wine is shaped by wind, salt air and long, even ripening. Picked at modest baumé for purity and drive, it’s fermented cool to preserve line and tension. The result is crystalline citrus, saline minerality and a fine, mouth-watering floral backbone.

Best enjoyed: Serve chilled at 8–10°C in a white wine glass to allow aromatics to open while retaining tension. Avoid over-chilling, which can mute its detail. It pairs beautifully with fresh Coffin Bay oysters squeezed with lemon. The wine’s saline edge mirrors the ocean character of the shellfish, while its bright acidity cuts cleanly through brine and natural sweetness. Also exceptional with sashimi, grilled whiting, or Thai dishes with lime and fresh herbs.

RRP $38 | Drink to 2030 | bostonbaywines.com.au | Shop this wine

2025 Cargo Road Wines Riesling, Orange NSW

Fresh-cut white pear and swinging orchard apples. There is delicacy and a fresh spring blossom note to the wine. Acidity soars with vibrancy and a teaspoon of sugared apple sweetness. Beautifully poised fruit and very harmonious flow on the palate. A wine that feels at home, and grown. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion

Cargo Road says: The 2025 Riesling reflects a pristine, high-altitude, cool-climate vintage in Orange, New South Wales. Delicately perfumed with citrus blossom and jasmine, it carries fine natural acidity and a fine line of minerality – think Schweppes lime cordial. Gentle handling preserves purity and energy, delivering a poised, refreshing riesling that speaks clearly of site, season and holistic vineyard and land stewardship.

Best enjoyed: Enjoy the 2025 Cargo Road Wines Riesling lightly chilled, between 8–10°C,  to allow its delicate aromatics to unfold. A riesling wine glass works best to capture the floral lift and fine citrus notes. Ideal alongside sashimi, fresh prawns, lightly spiced Asian dishes or soft cheeses, where its crisp acidity and purity bring brightness and balance to the table. Best enjoyed with friends, a sunset and simple food. 

RRP $35 | Drink to 2032 | cargoroadwines.com.au | Shop this wine

2024 Cargo Road Wines Riesling, Orange NSW

Ringing with appletini vibes, candied lime skin and nashi pear crunch. This has a perky acid line and flowing river-water freshness. The wine finishes dry and crisp. Full of energy and poise. Another riesling from Cargo Road that is value personified. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion

Cargo Road says: The 2024 Cargo Road Wines Riesling captures the purity of Orange’s cool climate. Grown at 860m on the slopes of Mount Canobolas, it shows bright lime and grapefruit characters with a steely backbone and vibrant natural acidity. It is also grown on minerally, volcanic tuff soils, and produced using certified regenerative vineyard practices. It is precise, mineral and built to age beautifully. 

Best enjoyed: Drinking it chilled, between 8–10°C, will highlight its vibrant acidity, citrus aromatics and mineral freshness. Use a medium-sized white wine glass to allow the lime, grapefruit and floral notes to open up. Repeated swirling and sniffing will heighten your tasting experience. It pairs beautifully with fresh seafood, oysters, Thai or Vietnamese dishes, light salads, green curry or simply cooked white fish. 

RRP $35 | Drink to 2038 | cargoroadwines.com.au | Shop this wine

2025 ChaLou Wines Riesling, Orange NSW

20g/L. Single-site estate vineyard. Lotus flowers, lime skin and pineapple guava. There is a quartz and pumice-stone edge and a quivering tension between fruit nectar and vibrating acidity. The wine evaporates the remaining oily sweetness and what is left is a lacy grip of skin texture, some moreish white almond creaminess and white apple notes. This is utterly delectable; one of the finest expressions of off-dry riesling in the country. Outstanding value; if there is any left, scoop it up. – Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion

ChaLou says: Our cool, high-altitude site is a unique terroir that allows us to harvest at a low baumé while achieving high aromatic maturity and excellent retention of natural acidity. We choose to retain residual sugar from fermentation to craft an off-dry style that ties the aromatics and the palate, finishing with beautiful acidity and texture. 

Best enjoyed: We recommend serving this wine chilled, between 7–10°C. It is a refreshing choice for warmer weather or as an aperitif. The ChaLou Riesling is also highly versatile with food, complementing spicy and salty dishes as well as serving as an excellent accompaniment for dessert. Pipis in chilli XO sauce is a highly recommended pairing. The salt and spice work perfectly with the off-dry aromatic precision of this wine.

RRP $35 | Drink to 2035 | chalouwines.com.au | Shop this wine

2025 Henschke Julius Riesling, Eden Valley SA

Pale straw in the glass with a flash of green and beautifully defined aromas of freshly squeezed lime juice, green apple, Bickford's lime cordial and grapefruit. You'll find hints of crushed quartz, Christmas lily, orange blossom, almond paste, ozone, lemongrass and makrut lime. Sleek, focused and wonderfully pure. There is an ache of precision and minerality that marks its passage over the palate, all tension and velocity and cadence. Jeez, it is a lovely wine, finishing dry and slatey with just a glimpse of umami as it trails off. – Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion

Henschke says: Our Julius Riesling is sourced from the Henschke family’s Eden Valley Vineyard, where the original riesling vines are over 60 years old. This wine provides characters of layered citrus, jasmine florals and mineral tension, with a purity of fruit that delivers exceptional intensity, weight and structure. It is a riesling made for drinking now, but could easily be cellared for 20 years.

Best enjoyed: Our 2025 Julius is best served cool (around 10°C), but not so cold that you can’t enjoy the delicate aromas and flavours. It is also delicious from an ice bucket on the beach! Great glassware will enhance its aromatics, and we like to serve our wines in Plumm glassware. It pairs beautifully with seafood, from Spencer Gulf prawns to fresh Coffin Bay oysters, as the salty nature perfectly complements this wine’s bright lime-like acidity. We have a number of amazing recipes on our website from some of Australia’s most celebrated chefs that are an excellent match.

RRP $56 | Drink to 2040 | henschke.com.au | Shop this wine

2025 Keayang Maar Riesling, Western Victoria Zone VIC

Bright gold with green tinges. Aromas of lemon sherbet, lemongrass and makrut lime lead onto the flavoursome, gently textured palate. And while the acidity is relatively soft, it's well balanced, adding up to a wine that can be enjoyed in the short to medium term. – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

Keayang Maar says: The Keayang Maar vineyard rests on the edge of a dormant volcanic crater in Victoria’s Western Volcanic Plains. The vines for this riesling grow into volcanic ash (tuff) which settled here 30,000 years ago. Our terroir allows our fruit to reach its full potential with exquisite flavour and natural acidity. Gently fined and hand bottled through a gravity-fed system.

Best enjoyed: Best served in a universal wine glass between 8–10°C to allow the flavour and structure to shine.  For those who like experimenting, mix 120ml riesling with half a glass of ice and 30ml of mint syrup. Top with soda water and garnish with fresh mint. Perfect alongside a light and spicy seafood dish such as ceviche, Vietnamese dishes, or anything fresh and vibrant.

RRP $37.00 | Drink to 2029 | keayangmaar.com | Shop this wine

2024 Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Dry Riesling, Waipara Valley, Canterbury NZ

You are greeted by a light gold colour with a shining lime hue. A full and richly scented bouquet rises from the glass, with suggestions of pineapple, quince and oyster shell, spliced with floral notes of citrus blossom and honeysuckle. The concentrated palate displays outstanding weight and a richly textured mouthfeel, perfectly structured by vibrant acidity and a sassy dash of spritzig. Bel Canto '24 is impressively complex and flavoursome, with an expansive, persistent finish.

Pegasus Bay says: Harvested late in the season after an extended hang time on the vines, the wine is fermented dry, producing a powerful, multilayered riesling with distinct regional characters. Orange zest and spice leap out of the glass, making this unique and iconic wine instantly recognisable. It is a pure expression of the vineyard and region, and has become globally recognised after being awarded the top wine internationally at the Judgement of London.

Best enjoyed: Serve chilled, around 8°C, in good quality stemware that tapers at the top. This wine deliberately retains some of its naturally dissolved Co2 to accentuate its freshness and add another demotion on the palate, but the cooler the wine is, the less this character shows, so be careful not to over-chill. It pairs with a wide range of dishes, including those with more-challenging components such as umami, chilli, or a touch of sweetness. It is a great match with pork dishes, as well as charcuterie, and an absolute winner with Yum Cha. 

RRP NZ $73.95 | Drink to 2034 | pegasusbay.com | Shop this wine 

2025 Rieslingfreak No.10 Zenit Riesling, Eden & Clare Valleys SA

No.10 is only produced in minute amounts from the most exceptional vintages.The 2025 No.10 is a blend of 71% Eden Valley and 29% Clare Valley, from specially selected sites across two of our most outstanding vineyards of the year; the Lienert vineyard in Flaxman Valley, and the Sandow Family vineyard in Watervale in the Clare Valley. The 2025 No.10 effortlessly harmonises the refined elegance and silky texture of Watervale, with the slick precision and heady perfume of Flaxman Valley; creating a wine that is perfectly balanced with knife-edge precision. The bouquet is exquisitely perfumed; an enticing symphony of fresh lime, lemon curd, passionflower and rosewater, complemented by the fresh scents of pressed linen and talc.

Rieslingfreak says: No.10 is our ultimate multi-regional blend that captures the very essence of the vintage and is the definitive expression of riesling. The label was originally created in 2017 to celebrate John and Belinda’s wedding and to serve exclusively to their family and friends, but has come to represent the very best of Rieslingfreak. 

Best enjoyed: Serve chilled in your favourite wine glass, or pair with grilled prawns with XO butter and lime or freshly shucked oysters. 

RRP $60 | Drink to 2045 | rieslingfreak.com | Shop this wine 

2025 Robert Oatley Signature Series Riesling, Great Southern WA

It's a straightforward expression of riesling with hallmark regional intensity of acidity. Very zippy, electric even, mouth-watering and loaded with tart citrus fruit characters. Dashes of green apple, a touch of meringue sweetness, too. It feels easy to get stuck into, in a riesling-101 way. – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion

Robert Oatley says: We love this classic dry riesling from Western Australia’s superb Frankland River in the Great Southern. It’s the perfect each-way bet – beautifully expressive and refreshing now, yet structured with the acidity and precision to cellar gracefully for a decade or more, if you have the patience.

Best enjoyed: Serve chilled (around 8–10°C) in a white wine glass to capture its aromatics. Best enjoyed on its own or alongside seafood and citrus-driven dishes. Oysters spring immediately to mind, as the wine’s citrus notes act like a squeeze of fresh lemon over the shellfish. A plate of fritto misto would also be ideal, as would vibrant Asian salads. It’s a wonderfully versatile wine style that pairs effortlessly with fresh, delicate flavours. 

RRP $25.00 | Drink to 2029 | robertoatley.com.au | Shop this wine 

2025 Singlefile 'The Pamela' Porongurup Riesling, Great Southern WA

Tightly coiled with lime, the dominant signal of fruit. It's slightly sherbety, luminescent, granita-laced. Green apple, pithy citrus, a dusting of talc throughout. It feels elegant and long, and leaves an imprint of confidence on the palate. – Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion

Singlefile says: The Pamela is a wine for true riesling lovers, capturing the purity of its vineyard and the distinctive character of the Porongurup subregion with minimal winemaking intervention. Delicate yet intricate, it offers elegance and intensity, with youthful citrus and crunchy green apple layered over chalky salinity and a finish of superb length, promising remarkable complexity as it evolves over decades.

Best enjoyed: Serve chilled, ideally between 7–12°C, to highlight the wine’s crisp acidity and lifted aromatics. A narrow-bowled white wine glass is ideal to concentrate and enhance the wine’s delicate perfume. It would be difficult to imagine a finer pairing than with beautiful Albany oysters, the wine’s bright acidity and subtle saline edge echoing the freshness of the sea. The wine is equally at home alongside barbecued seafood, sushi, spicy stir-fries and roast pork.

RRP $47 | Drink to 2040 | singlefile.com | Shop this wine