The Grosset Polish Hill vineyard is situated in a U-shaped ridge formation running north from Mount Horrocks. The soil is shaley, not especially fertile, and slightly acid, and the topsoil crust is of clay and shale. The Polish Hill vineyard does not have Springvale's air of abundance. On the contrary, the vines are smaller, working harder to draw sustenance from the less generous soil, and berries are smaller and more concentrated than those of Springvale. In comparison to Springvale Riesling, Polish Hill is more austere, leaner, reflecting the nature of the terrain that Jeffrey Grosset, with his usual attention to geological constraints and possibilities, chose as his spot in the Polish Hill River area.
Commercial vineyards first appeared in this sub-region during the 1890s, declined again until the 1970s and then came with a rush in the 1980s. The release of the first Grosset Polish Hill riesling coincided with this great flowering of winemaking in the area.
The Grosset Polish Hill Riesling celebrates its thirtieth vintage in 2010 and does so at the peak of its form, and with an established reputation as a wine of extraordinary consistency. This magnificent wine ('The finest riesling I have ever tasted from Australia' - Robert Parker Jnr, USA) remains the jewel in the Grosset crown. With its powerful, pristine characteristics, its subtle floral, citrus and mineral nuances and fine acidity opening out to a long lingering lusciousness, the Polish Hill has become nationally and internationally a pre-eminent riesling.
'Making riesling is the purest form of winemaking,' Jeffrey Grosset has said, and his Polish Hill - from a lean, spare even unlikely-looking terrain - has the purity, restraint, and austerity of art, but also its beauty, its resonance, its hidden surprises. As Langton's Australian Wine Guide puts it, 'This is the most successful Australian riesling. Grosset is a perfectionist and the wines have incredible perfume and purity, lime/floral fruit profile balanced by an indelible acidity that cuts across the palate. This wine does much to define the distinctive character of Clare Valley riesling.'
