2020 Kusuda Riesling
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Riesling Kusuda from Japanese winemaker Hiro Kusuda is dry and pure. Despite its low residual sugar level (1.9g/L), the wine remains impeccably balanced. Expect tangy marmalade and lime, ginger and apple flavors. However, the wine's most intriguing element is its texture. It is a midweight style with excellent depth of concentration, which blossoms on the palate before clasping the mouth gently on the floral finish.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,296 g. Grown in a leased vineyard block on the original Martinborough Terrace. Very dry January and February with heavy rain at the end of March. Hand-picked with careful selection 4–6 April at 20–22 Brix. Whole-bunch pressed, settled for 72 hours with bentonite. Fermented in tank for 16 days. Bottled 25 August 2020. Production: 3,851 bottles (2,000 cork-stoppered and 1,851 screwcapped) plus 69 magnums. TA 6.8 g/l, pH 2.91, RS 1.9 g/l. Very lively, floral nose. Cutting acidity and a bit hard on the end. Less obvious fruit than, say, the 2020 Rheingau Riesling trocken from Eva Fricke that I have just been tasting. But it’s certainly pure and precise and I should imagine it will age well. And it’s in stark contrast to the over-perfumed, over-sweetened NZ Rieslings that have predominated. (JR)