Description
A producer with a single-minded varietal focus is a rarity in Australian wine, John Hughes is one of those rarities.
Try his wonderful new releases in this pack!
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 4 Eden Valley Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 5 Clare Valley Off Dry Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 2 Polish Hill River Riesling
- 2024 Rieslingfreak No. 8 Schatzkammer Polish Hill River Riesling
- 2022 Rieslingfreak No. 11 Mosaik Eden Valley Riesling
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 3 Clare Valley Riesling
The Rieslingfreak No. 3 is John Hughes' outstanding value Clare Valley Riesling.
The Clare Valley is John's home. This wine captures the essence of the region. This comes from John's home vineyard, and it's the wine he watches closest from vine to bottle.
Firm, steely but with a generosity that makes this a delicious drink now or primed for decades in the cellar. An absolute bargain and a must have for all lovers of Australian Riesling.
97 points
"So perfumed and essential, with crunchy lime, green apple and grapefruit alongside high tones of wildflowers, Christmas lily, jasmine, talc, mineral salts, peach skin and stone. Concentrated yet super-tight on the palate with a tubular core of focused lime and citrus fruits, a beautifully fine structure and a tangy, energetic line with velocity to burn. A superb, pristine wine."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
97 points
"From the family White Hutt vineyard. Immediate white florals unfurl from the glass. Jasmine and flannel flower. Green Alphonso mango skin, orange blossom and pink lady apple. It’s tightly coiled with a touch of spritz that relaxes and opens to white stone fruit and lemon peel. Acidity, although upright as expected, is surprisingly unified in the wine. The fleshiness of white peach is gathering momentum. This feels like it’s been getting to know itself in the bottle for longer than it has. Ready for drinking but of course another 10-15 years of jubilant life ahead of it yet. Drink with peach and arugula salad with crumbled ghost cheese."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 4 Eden Valley Riesling
John Hughes has a deep love of Riesling.
His unwavering commitment to it has seen him become one of the country's finest artisanal producers of the variety.
This is his Eden Valley Riesling. The fruit is sourced from three vineyards between Eden Valley and Flaxman’s Valley.
It's made in a dry style, looking to capture the sublime characters of these brilliant vineyards. The quality is clear, the expression is pure.
This is Eden Valley Riesling in top form. A deadset bargain for any Riesling fan.
95 points
"Tight and high-toned, as all Eden Valley riesling should be, with Bickford's lime cordial and Tahitian limes at its base. Hints of orange blossom, crushed quartz, lemongrass and stone with a light, balanced sheen of phenolics and a febrile sense of urgency as it careens across the palate, finishing fine and long."
- Dave Brookes (Haliiday Wine Companion)
94 points
"Passion flower, Feijoa and frangipani blooms. Stoney and mineral with a cucumber melon freshness. High toned and electric acidity, this wine has power almost beyond measure. Twinged in all the right places for long term cellaring. The palate has a lacey skin texture, coupled with blue stones and running river water. It’s graceful and yet demands your attention with a casual firm grip. A wine for white meats like poached chicken salads and slices of pork medallion."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 5 Clare Valley Off Dry Riesling
There are few off-dry styles of Riesling in Australia that are executed as well as this offering from Riesling fanatic, John Hughes.
The balance in this release is excellent. The ripeness of fruit and the laser-like acidity all lends itself perfectly to make this more 'Germanic' expression of the Clare Valley. It's a wine you could happily drink straight away, or hold onto it for later (if you can resist).
This wine style matches perfectly with spicy dishes and has the balance to drink brilliantly on its own.
97 points
"Look away if you don’t want to be utterly seduced, for you have now been warned. In a vintage such as 2024 the off dry styles of riesling from Rieslingfreak are something to be savoured... This is magnificent stuff. Drink with Prawn Cheung Fun and glory in a pairing fit for kings."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
96 points
"I'm a sucker for a good off-dry riesling (here, it's 13g/L RS), and this certainly ticks a lot of boxes for me... There's a real tension to this wine, a pressure-like interplay between RS and acidity that releases with a long, purely fruited draw on the finish, seeming drier than you'd expect as the acidity tempers that gentle sweetness beautifully. Bravo."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 2 Polish Hill River Riesling
The Polish Hill River Riesling comes from a single block in the Polish Hill sub-region of the Clare Valley.
John & Belinda Hughes think this vineyard produces the best fruit of all of their vineyard sources. Grown in soils rich with limestone and shale, this dry Riesling is ballistically good in 2024.
There's an extra level of intensity here. That classic iron bar of acidity as a spine, the chalky crunch of a green apple, wonderful perfume and glorious purity.
This sits comfortably alongside the best wines from this famous sub-region of the Clare. This is an elite Australian Riesling which beautifully captures one of the premier sub-regions for Riesling in the whole country.
98 points
"Such a sleek, tightly bound package, with a steely focus, porcelain acidity and a pitch-perfect tubular palate shape. It's lovely saline and sapid drinking now, but this will age beautifully."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
96 points
"It’s otherworldly, to be perfectly honest, quite hard to describe. It’s ethereal. All I can say is this is what you’d drink at the pearly gates, if you’ve been good of course."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2024 Rieslingfreak No. 8 Schatzkammer Polish Hill River Riesling
One of the great things about Riesling is that you can mold it into any form you like. Want it dry? Ferment it dry. Want it sweet? You can have that, too...
John Hughes loves Riesling in all its forms and guises.
The No. 8 from Rieslingfreak is modelled off the German Kabinett style of Riesling. It's picked early to preserve the searing natural acid of young Clare Valley fruit, then has the ferment arrested just as John decrees that the balance of sugar and acid is right where he wants it.
It's sweet yet refreshing all at once. This is one of the top of the pile sweeter-styled Riesling in the country.
96 points
"It's an enchantingly pure wine, its finely honed tension making it appear drier than you'd expect, with a fine, minerally cadence, an ache of umami and a drawn-out lime sorbet finish. Superb drinking."
- Dave Brookes (Halliday Wine Companion)
96 points
"What a journey this wine takes you on...The vineyard shines here with sweetness perfectly matched to suit the character of the fruit. It’s JUST right and a demonstration as to why you need to be a freak of all things Riesling to produce wine this good. Cellar for another 20 years if you have the patience of a saint. Serve with luscious pork belly."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)
2022 Rieslingfreak No. 11 Mosaik Eden Valley Riesling
John Hughes is all about showcasing his love for Riesling, and he's passionate about showing off the diversity of the variety. This wine, his No. 11 Mosaik Riesling, is absolutely a wine to behold.
John got a little bit creative and wild with this expression - taking fruit from the Eden Valley, then ageing the wine in seasoned French oak for about a year. The result is magnificent - expect the typical Eden Valley Riesling flavours, like delicate florals, a lip smacking line of acidity, zesty citrus and finishing refreshingly crisp and racy. But the time spent in oak has given it an extra layer of complexity and the addition of a beautiful, mouth-filling, silky texture.
Overdelivering in the value for money department, this is an outrageously delicious and complex wine. Riesling lovers, you can't miss this.
Customer Reviews
Rieslingfreak
Others also liked
Recently viewed
Shipping
Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!
For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.
We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.
Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.
Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you.
Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.
Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.
Ordering
We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
- The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
- We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
- We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
- It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.
- It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.
We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.
At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!
No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.
We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.
To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you.
If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.
If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.
Just want to talk to someone?
Please don't ever hesitate - we would love to help! Whether it's a problem we can fix, a wine you're not 100% sure on or if you simply want to talk about wine, food and the meaning of life, we are here for you.