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Riverby Estate Noble Riesling 2014
Dessert (sweet white)New Zealand2014
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-06-25 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
3.5/5 — lower than Vivino's 3.7 average · world avg price US$33 · A sweet Riesling made from botrytised grapes on a Marlborough family farm more than a century old.
Wine-Searcher aggregate of 2 critic reviews: 91. The British wine site wine-pages describes the house's Noble Riesling as styled on Germany's Trockenbeerenauslese. Vivino lists no critic score.
Market note: World average US$33 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, last recorded Jan 2023). The wine usually comes in half bottles (375ml). No retailer currently lists the 2014; the 2019 half bottle appears in New Zealand at US$17.54 (tax incl.). On the same basis the house's dry Riesling is US$11 (88) and its Sauvignon Blanc US$15 (89).
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“스윗 리슬링. 트로피칼과 시트러스 느낌이 지나가면 리슬링 특유의 개솔린이 올라옵니다. 라벨에 튀어오르는 연어(? 맞나요) 같이 시원하게 통통튀면서 미네랄 느낌도 있습니다.”
Show original
“honey peach stone orange oil gasoline 스윗 리슬링~ 트로피칼과 시트러스 느낌이 지나가면 리슬링 특유의 개솔린이 올라옵니다^^ 라벨에 튀어오르는 연어(? 맞나요^^) 같이 시원하게 통통튀면서 미네랄 느낌도 있습니다~”
What I learned today: an unfamiliar smell isn't necessarily a wrong one.
Monday. There was still some of the bread Mum packed for me yesterday, so I brought it in its paper bag. Master Seo looked inside and, without a word, took out two small glasses. A little bottle, half the size of the usual ones, came out wrapped in cloth. A pool of gold settled in the bottom of my glass. Tear off just one piece of bread and keep it to the side, he said.
Honey, ripe peach, orange peel. Sweet. But not only sweet. Acidity bounced lightly through the sweetness. Then, after a long while, a strange smell rose from the bottom of the glass. The smell that used to come through the gap in the car window when we passed a petrol station. That unfamiliar smell opened a late night at the end of June.
Twenty-one, a Thursday night at the end of June. Dad came home late with his tie loosened. He took a small bottle from the fridge, wrapped it in cloth and poured a little into small glasses. To clear the palate before bed, he said. I took a sip and said: it's sweet, but something's bouncing around in my mouth. Dad laughed and glanced down once at the cloth-wrapped bottle. I didn't know what that meant then. I don't know the name of the bottle.
I opened the notebook to that date. A sweet Riesling, he wrote. Once the tropical and citrus notes pass, Riesling's signature petrol rises. And then: like "the salmon leaping on the label (? is that right)", it bounces coolly, with a mineral feel too. Three and a half stars. The bottle was Riverby Estate Noble Riesling. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. Only today did I understand why Dad looked down at the bottle when I said something was bouncing. Under the cloth, a fish was leaping on the label.
Master Seo turned the bottle and showed me the label. A single fish, arching its whole body, leaping. Beside me, Minjae looked worried at the words 'petrol smell'.
After closing, I wrote the name on the twenty-seventh page of the new notebook. In the aroma column I wrote 'petrol station', and beside it, like Dad, I added a question mark. What I learned today: an unfamiliar smell isn't necessarily a wrong one. And Dad's question mark still hasn't been answered.
What this wine is
Riverby was a farm name first. According to the British wine site wine-pages, it comes from the Opawa River and its tributaries that criss-crossed this land in Marlborough, New Zealand. The Courtney family has worked it for more than a century, and vines were first planted in 1989. Kevin Courtney leads the estate today. It sits on Jacksons Road in Marlborough, right next door to Cloudy Bay.
What made the house known in New Zealand was sweet wine: it is said to have been named best dessert wine at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards in several vintages. The Noble Riesling comes from a few rows in one of the estate's Riesling vineyards where noble rot reliably settles. Those rows are left on the vine long after the main harvest, waiting for the grapes to shrivel and their sugars to concentrate. The style takes Germany's Trockenbeerenauslese as its model, and it usually comes in half bottles (375ml). The 2015 carried around 200 grams of residual sugar per litre.
The label shows a single fish, its body arched in a great leap. A fitting image for a farm named after a river — but whether the fish is a salmon or a trout, and why it was chosen, I couldn't find in the estate's materials.
What the world says
The two critic reviews gathered on Wine-Searcher aggregate to 91. Vivino lists no critic score.
On Vivino the 2014 has only 20 ratings, so no average is shown. The distribution is two fives, eleven fours, five threes and two twos — about 3.7 when calculated. The label as a whole averages 4.1 from 108. The suggested window is 2018–2028.
The aroma keywords run honey, ginger and petroleum (13 mentions), peach and apricot (9), marmalade and orange (4), caramel and toffee (3), and dried apricot (3). Structure: sweetness 5/5, acidity 4.9, intensity 3.8 — very sweet, with acidity almost at the top of the scale too. One reviewer noted an almost coppery amber colour, honey and wax, and ginger on the finish.
"The best orange marmelade taste I ever had." — Vivino review, Nov 2017, 4.5
How I drank it
June 25, 2020, 3.5 stars. I wrote down honey, peach, stone, orange oil and petrol.
A sweet Riesling. Once the tropical and citrus notes pass, Riesling's signature petrol rises. Like the salmon leaping on the label (I'm not sure it's a salmon), it bounces coolly, with a mineral feel too.
The same day I gave Unico Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva 2013 a 3. The day before I'd given Jacques Selosse Initial a 4.5. My 3.5 is below this vintage's calculated 3.7 and the label's 4.1. I'll leave the question mark in the note as it is. I never did check what the fish on the label was.
Vivino community data
2014 vintage rating distribution (20 ratings, average 3.7)
| 5★ | 2 (10%) | |
| 4★ | 11 (55%) | |
| 3★ | 5 (25%) | |
| 2★ | 2 (10%) | |
| 1★ | 0 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Earth & leather | 13 | honey 8 · ginger 2 · petroleum 1 · stone 1 · wax 1 |
| Tree fruit | 9 | peach 4 · apricot 2 · apple 1 · pear 1 · stone fruit 1 |
| Citrus | 4 | marmalade 2 · citrus 1 · orange 1 |
| Oak | 3 | caramel 1 · toffee 1 · vanilla 1 |
| Dried fruit | 3 | dried apricot 3 |
Structure: Acidity 4.9/5 · Intensity 3.8/5 · Sweetness 5/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 108 ratings, average 4.1)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Riverby Estate Noble Riesling?
A dessert wine made by Riverby Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand, from late-picked, botrytised Riesling. Usually sold in half bottles; the 2014 has a Wine-Searcher critic aggregate of 91, and 20 Vivino ratings (about 3.7 calculated from the distribution).
How much does it cost?
Wine-Searcher's world average is US$33 per 750ml (ex-tax, last recorded Jan 2023). No retailer currently lists the 2014; the 2019 half bottle appears in New Zealand at US$17.54 (tax incl.).
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests mature hard cheese, fruity desserts and blue cheese. Its high acidity suits peach tart or bread topped with blue cheese.
Is the petrol smell in Riesling a fault?
No. It's a common aroma in aged or sun-soaked Riesling, attributed to a compound known as TDN. Very strong, it divides opinion, but it's considered a hallmark of Riesling.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- wine-pages — Riverby Estate, Marlborough
- Wide World of Wine — Trompetting Riverby
- Wine-Searcher — 2014 Riverby Estate Noble Riesling
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Swipe for more →
Tasted the same dayUnico Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva 2013
Italy★★★☆☆Same grapeDomaine Leroy Bourgogne Aligoté 2014
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same grapeDomaine de la Pinte Trousseau Arbois 2018
France★★★★½Same grapeFar Niente Chardonnay 2019
United States · Napa★★★★☆Same grapeLucien Le Moine Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru 2018
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same grape