Accolades
It has been 10 months since Ben and Sarah officially took over from Duke and Hilde, so we are very honoured to be awarded some pointy end scores from several of Australia’s top wine critics.
First out of the gate (in November 2022), Ray Jordan gave the ’22 Magpie Hill Reserve Best Riesling of WA and 97 points. This is the current iteration of the wine that put Duke on the map in 2019 by receiving 99 points and the James Halliday Wine of the Year Award for the 2017 vintage, a first for an Australian Riesling.
Huon Hooke (a notoriously tough marker) of the Real Review gave us a slew of high points after tasting through the portfolio in November:
- 95pts – Magpie Hill Reserve Riesling 2022
- 95pts – Single Vineyard Riesling 2022
- 95pts – Frankland River Riesling 2022
- 94pts – Protea Sauvignon Blanc 2022
- 93pts – Maleeya Gewurztraminer 2022
He also took a second look at the ’21 Magpie Hill Riesling this week and gave it 96 points. (He had awarded it 95 in December 2022.) Duke said this is his “best ever” vintage and it certainly is starting its journey beautifully.
In a major coup for global wine media, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate poached Erin Larkin from Halliday’s Wine Companion last year. We are thrilled that she took the time to taste several Duke’s wines and awarded us these scores:
95+pts – Magpie Hill Reserve Riesling 2022
94pts – Single Vineyard Riesling 2022
as well as noting that the 2021 Magpie Hill Riesling is also cracking along with 95pts.
"Life is too short to drink bad wine!"
