Rieslingfreak — Australia's Most Dedicated Riesling Specialist
Rieslingfreak is one of Australia's most singular and celebrated wine producers — a winery built entirely around a single, unwavering obsession: Riesling. Founded by winemaker John Hughes, Rieslingfreak is dedicated to producing benchmark expressions of Australia's most age-worthy white variety from the finest Riesling-growing regions in South Australia, with a precision, purity, and sense of place that has earned the admiration of critics and collectors alike.
The Producer
John Hughes established Rieslingfreak with a clear and uncompromising vision — to make the best Riesling in Australia, from the best sites, with minimal intervention and maximum respect for terroir. Each wine in the range is designated by number, reflecting its regional origin and style, and each is crafted to express the distinct character of its vineyard source with crystalline clarity. The result is a range of Rieslings that are not only exceptional upon release but have the structure, acidity, and mineral depth to age gracefully for a decade or more.
The Regions
Eden Valley is one of Australia's most distinguished cool-climate wine regions, situated in the Mount Lofty Ranges of South Australia at elevations ranging from 400 to over 500 metres above sea level. The region's high altitude, rocky schist and slate soils, and cool growing season create conditions of exceptional elegance for Riesling — producing wines of vibrant acidity, intense citrus and floral aromatics, and a distinctive slate-like minerality that is the hallmark of the style.
Within Eden Valley, the High Eden subregion — particularly the Flaxman Valley — is prized for its elevation and the structural elegance it imparts to the wines grown there. Vineyards on the outskirts of Angaston and Springton contribute intense flavour and rich aromatics, adding complexity and palate weight to complement the High Eden's acid drive and finesse. The interplay of cool nights, warm days, and the region's ancient rocky soils produces Riesling of remarkable longevity — wines that reward patience as much as they reward immediate drinking.
Clare Valley is South Australia's other great Riesling heartland, located approximately 130 kilometres north of Adelaide. The valley's diverse terroir encompasses a series of distinct sub-valleys and ridges, each with its own soil type, aspect, and microclimate. The region's warm days and dramatically cool nights — a diurnal temperature variation of up to 20°C during the growing season — are ideal for producing Riesling with a perfect balance of ripeness and acidity. Clare Valley Rieslings are celebrated for their signature floral aromatics, zesty lime and citrus character, and a refreshing, bone-dry finish that makes them among the most food-friendly white wines in Australia. Like their Eden Valley counterparts, they age magnificently, developing toasty, honeyed complexity over time while retaining their essential freshness and drive.
Polish Hill River, a sub-region within the Clare Valley, is one of the most distinctive and sought-after Riesling sites in Australia. Its shallow, rocky soils over ancient Cambrian slate produce wines of extraordinary mineral intensity, tightly coiled structure, and exceptional longevity — a style that rewards extended cellaring and reveals new dimensions with every year in bottle.
Our Range
Rieslingfreak No.2 — Polish Hill River Riesling — From the most mineral and structured sub-region of the Clare Valley. A wine of exceptional concentration, tightly wound acidity, and the distinctive slate-like minerality that defines Polish Hill River at its finest. Built for the cellar, but rewarding from the moment it is opened.
Rieslingfreak No.3 — Clare Valley Riesling — The benchmark Clare Valley expression. Signature floral aromatics, zesty lime and citrus, and a refreshing, bone-dry finish. Beautifully balanced between ripeness and acidity, with the structure to age gracefully for a decade or more. Available across multiple vintages.
Rieslingfreak No.4 — Eden Valley Riesling — The flagship expression, bringing together selected vineyards from the High Eden Flaxman Valley, Angaston, and Springton to combine the elegance and acid drive of the High Eden subregion with the intense flavour and rich aromatics of the lower Eden sites. Bright pale gold with green hues and brilliant clarity. Fresh limes, passionfruit, and rosewater on the nose, complemented by spicy undertones of fennel seed and star anise and the evocative scent of rain falling on warm slate. On the palate, a foundational slate-like minerality runs beneath punchy flavours of freshly squeezed lime juice and elderflower cordial, with tightly wound acidity driving the length to a fine, crisp finish. Available across multiple vintages.
The current release — No.4 Eden Valley Riesling 2025 — is the most decorated vintage yet:
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97 Points & Top 100 Wines of Australia — James Suckling: ‘Tightly wound and pure aromas of lemon pith, grapefruit rind, slate, passion fruit, fresh herbs and white flowers. The palate is sharp and focused, with bright acidity and a firm line of minerality carrying notes of mandarin and chalk. The finish is both electric and precise. Excellent. Drink or hold.’
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95 Points — Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion: ‘High-tensile and wonderfully focused as always. Tightly coiled, with a crystalline focus, it zooms across the palate, leaving a limey wake. Finishes bone dry, nervy and lip-smacking.’
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93+ Points — Mike Bennie, The Wine Front: ‘Ballistic drinking at the price. Tight, racy, skeletal — all the lemon verbena, lemongrass, pickled ginger, the piercing thrust of saline minerality, the brittle finish with all its speckles of almost fizzing, mouthwatering quartz and crystals.’
Cellaring & Food Pairing
All Rieslingfreak wines are crafted for both immediate enjoyment and extended cellaring. Upon release they are vibrant, precise, and intensely aromatic — ideal with fresh oysters, sashimi, grilled fish, Asian cuisine, goat's cheese, and light salads. With five to ten years in the cellar they develop toasty, honeyed complexity while retaining their essential freshness and mineral drive — a transformation that ranks Australian Riesling among the world's most rewarding wines to age.
Explore our full Rieslingfreak range below and discover why John Hughes's obsession with Riesling has produced some of the most critically acclaimed and age-worthy white wines in Australia.
