Briar Ridge Stockhausen Semillon 2025
AU$35, 12% alcohol, screwcap, Hunter Valley.
Scintillating wine. Intense, direct, gently textural and exceptionally long-flavoured. Tonic water, citrus, wax and lemon myrtle characters put on a racy-but-compelling show, the gentleness of the texture adding just a bit of cushioning. And then there’s that finish, which in itself is wow. Highly recommend.
94+ points – Campbell Mattinson.
Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.
Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.
