Vine varieties: Riesling

(31,310 tonnes by 2013) will surely never regain the pre-eminent position it lost to Chardonnay in 1992 (and other white varieties since that time) but the long-heralded Riesling renaissance may just be at hand, even if the statistics need careful interpretation. In terms of tonnes crushed, the high point came in 1985, with 46,481, the low point in 2000 with 26,800. But during this time Riesling was being removed from regions to which it was not suited (notably the Riverland and Riverina). New plantings in appropriate regions were taking place, but there was a time lag as they came into bearing. The near-monopoly of the clare and eden valleys for top-quality Riesling has been challenged by the great southern and, on a smaller scale, by tasmania, but there will be no seismic shift in the foreseeable future.