Wines
2008 ‘Traditionale’ Riesling
PIKES TRADITIONALE RIESLING 2008
Pale Straw with green lues; floral lime fruit bouquet; linear and fine, with a racy, yet still juicy, finish to the palate. 91 points
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2010
Neil Pike seemingly has a season ticket to our 100 Best and this will not change as long as he continues to enchant us with wines like this one. Fleshy, ripe, cool and incredibly detailed, 2008 Pikes Riesling is a joyous wine and one that deserves to cast its spell on a far wider fan base.
Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2009 - May 09 www.matthewjukes.com
One of the top wines in the blind tastings for this article. Hugely varietal with definitive Clare Valley characters. Intense floral and citrus characters are supported by a fine backbone of acidity. Superb.
Qantas in flight magazine - Toni Patterson - Dec 2008
Pikes makes two Rieslings; this is a softer, drink-young style which will also keep, but is deliciously tangy and bath-powder fragrant and not too dry or austere. The taste is juicy and fresh with a trace of sweetness balancing refreshing acidity.
92 points 4 stars.
Huon Hooke Gourmet Traveller WINE, February/March 09
Some of Austrlia's best reislings hail from the Clare Valley, with Pikes producing a wonderfully fresh and intense example. It's cruncy core of lime and green apple is augmented by notes of mineral, with toasty and honeyed nuances just starting to develop from some time in bottle..
New Zealand Herald - Wine - Jo Burzynska - Viva - 4th March 2009
Best Light White Wine - 2008 Wine Awards Competition
Packed with minerally citrus flavour yet dry as a bone, it features stunningly fresh acidity that gives it an incredibly long lasting, pure, clean finish. Clare Rieslings are built for the long haul (at least 10 years), but do not hesitate to enjoy this bottle now. It is the ideal partner for the Asia-Pacific cisines we live on in Vancouver.
Vancouver Magazine - 2008
one of the charmers of the 2008 vintage, Pikes is perfumed with lemon florals with a touch of honey and spice, and a lovely palate showing a balance of fruit and acidity. Just such a lovely drink now, it will develop probably in the shorter term of perhaps five years. I'd be drinking mine young.
Eat and Drink - Chris Hayes - January 2009
Classic aromas of lime and lemon with touches of faint spice and bath salts. The palate is very intense with fine controlled acid and terrific length. A racy, lively wine for current drinking or for another seven years cellaring with ease.
Ray Jordan - West Australian, 4 December 08
This incisive wine has a lemony chalky dryness that is fleshed out by some pulpy richness.
Max Allen - Australian Gourmet Traveller, December 08
The Pike brothers consistently make excellent Clare Valley rieslings from their plots in the Polish Hill River area. This classically styled example has slate, lime and white peach aromas of attractive varietal personality. The palate is ripe and complete with intense flavour and a long, aromatic finish.
4.5 stars
Ralph Kyte Powell - Epicure – Wine Guide, The AGE, 26 November 08
Neil Pike is one of the Clare Valley’s unsung heroes, making incredible Rieslings year in and year out….The cool 2008 vintage spawned a swath of classic Clare Rieslings and the Pikes Traditionale is no exception. It has fine floral aromas of orange blossom, Burnbrae apple and freshly squeezed lime, and intense flavours in a similar vein, with a seam of minerality and a finely focussed finale.
Peter Bourne - Gourmet Traveller WINE, December 08
When it comes to great Rieslings, you can't go wrong with this long established family winery. Crispy, zingy intense and lively, perfect with seafood or Thai dishes, this is one of Australia's benchmark Rieslings.
Winsor Dobbin - Wine With Winsor - November 21st
Clare Valley Maestro Neil Pike has outdone himself this year, packing more flavour and zip into this vintage than normal, which is really saying something. This is seriously delicious Riesling.
Grant Dodd - The Australian Golf Digest - December 2008 Edition
Clare Valley 2008 rieslings offer Australia's best value for money right now, so I make no apology for recommending another stunner. Crisp, zingy, intense and lively, perfect with seafood or Thai dishes, this is a benchmark dry riesling.
Winsor Dobbin winsordobbin.com.au 23 October 08
The Traditionale, sourced from the Clare subregions, Polish Hill, Watervale and Sevenhill, provides pure, soft, delicate drinking right now - it's great value.
Chris Shanahan Sunday Canberra Times, 26 October 08
Clean and vibrant displaying citrus fruits with delicate notes of bathpowder, musk and mineral. It is a typical Clare Riesling in a very good year. The palate is crisp, fresh and dry with zesty lemon, lime and grapefruit flavours. There is plenty of ripe, soft flavour to balance the bright acid.
Bars&Clubs, October 08
“Pikes is a benchmarks for $20 Riesling and in a definitive vintage like 2008 it is a sure-fire winner on any wine list. It is precisely tuned, with integrated flavours of green apples, pure lemon and concentrated lime. There's no urgency to wait for it because it's raring to go right from the start.”
Wine Business Monthly - Tyson Stelzer - October 2008
“This 2008 glided into our selection with effortless grace and paraded its precise balance and integrated flavours of green apples, pure lemon and concentrated lime in style. ”
Matthew Jukes & Tyson Stetzer - Taste Food & Wine 2009
“The estate level riesling from Pikes delivers super fine lemon and lime citrus fruit in 2008; there's brightness and a lively precise nature here. Assertive acid crunch and impressive depth and detail, slate-flavoured minerals, pure, scintillating and balanced..”
The Adelaide Review Hot 100 - 2008
“Pikes is a benchmarks for $20 rieslings and in a definitive vintage like 2008 it is a sure-fire winner on any wine list. It is precisely tuned, with integrated flavours of green apples, pure lemon and concentrated lime. There's no urgency to wait for it because it's raring to go right from the start.”
Tyson Stelzer, October 2008