2017 Alkoomi Black Label Riesling Frankland River 750 ml

Highly Rated, Yet Flying Low Under-the-Radar

Very little Alkoomi makes it to the States, and the 2017 Alkoomi Black Label Riesling Frankland River is something special—if you buy one Riesling this year, make it this one. The Alkoomi represents one of the New World’s finest dry Riesling bottlings and comes from the family that helped settle Western Australia’s Frankland region nearly 50 years ago. But we don’t expect you to be hooked by history alone: Both James Halliday, the world’s authority on Australian wine, and Decanter’s MW-led tasting panel dropped staggering 95-point scores on the Alkoomi, an honor that is impressive at any price point, but positively stunning for an under-$20 white wine. It is dry, intense, and incredibly lively, buzzing with an acidic verve and a minerality endowed by the gravel soils of Frankland River—an absolute gem of a wine that shows off the very best of New World Riesling. $19.99 per bottle with shipping included on 7.

If you’re not familiar with Australia’s Frankland River region, don’t worry. For now, it remains the hushed favorite of sommeliers and Aussie oenophiles, who wouldn’t tell you about it if they were pouring you a glass. Tucked into an upper corner of the Great Southern region of Western Australia, Frankland River enjoys a Mediterranean climate, cooling sea breezes, and ironstone gravel soil of Frankland River. These have enabled a handful of producers to turn this little-known spot into one of the country’s top, under-the-radar, Riesling regions.

Vic and Netta Lange established 3000-acre Alkoomi in 1946 as a grain and livestock farm. Their son Merv decided to plant grapes there in 1971, and covered just over two acres with vines—a gambit that turned out to have great consequences. After several years of supplying other wineries with grapes, Merv and his wife Judy built the Alkoomi winery in time for the 1979 vintage. Their wines quickly became exemplars of Frankland River excellence, and a quarter century later, the WA Wine Press Club presented the couple with the Jack Mann Memorial Medal for their contribution to the Australian wine industry. In 2010, they passed the operation on to their daughter, Sandy, and her husband Rod.

Alkoomi’s Black Label Riesling reaches back to those first daring days when Merv and Judy took a chance on their Frankland River terroir: It is sourced from estate grapes, grown on plots planted as recently as 2003 and as far back as the original 1971 planting. Batches of free-run juice from these different parcels are fermented separately, then blended into the optimal representation of this prized and pioneering piece of Australian land. This is a zesty, intense, bone-dry Riesling with a ton of mineral complexity and youthful vigor. For those eager to taste this renowned region’s unique terroir, or looking to stock their cellars with a shockingly good Riesling for the money, this is a rare opportunity.