O'Leary Walker Wines was established in 2000 by winemakers David O'Leary and Nick Walker. With over twenty five years experience and established reputations making premium wine with the big companies, these two long time friends decided to take control of their own destiny and craft small batches of wine from some of the best vineyard sites in South Australia. With a great leap of faith they are now doing exactly what they set out to. 

If Polish Hill River represents the power of Clare Valley Riesling, Watervale represents the finesse, the purity. Nowhere is this better exhibited than in the 2025 vintage. While it was a challenging vintage, by all accounts, Riesling shone. It shows. Bright, lime green hues. Classic Watervale scents, arrestingly aromatic and delicate in jasmine, wildflowers, bath salts, fresh lime and citrus skin and apple. An intensity of lime flavour lies at the wine’s core, a Watervale trait, in sync with florals. It’s a vibrant, alive palate with an easy textural flow in lime, green apple, pear skin, touch of rosemary, Thai basil and wet slate minerality. Finely textured with powdery fine acidity. Purity plus. This beauty will still be looking good in 10-15 years. Drink: 2025 - 2040; Price: $27.00; Rating: 96 Points: Jeni Port

Pretty classic stuff here, albeit you'd say this release is quite concentrated and potent in its fruit characteristics. Lemon-lime, sweet and tart at the same time, green apple, distinct blackcurrant notes, a little lemon oil and dashes of mandarin marmalade. Lots of talc here, too – powdery, lavender-like, and with a little bit of grip in texture. Nice one. Quietly complex. This should be singing with another year and onwards – and do wait if you can. Drink to: 2035; Price: $27.00; Tasted: June 2025; Alcohol: 11%; Rating: 95 Points & Special Value Star; James Halliday Wine Companion

This was an outstanding season in the Clare Valley region of South Australia, and this wine shows both the seasonal virtues and the expertise of these guys in producing some of the best Riesling in the land. On the nose, it strikes immediately with a mix of lemon and lime and some crazy floral notes. The palate, while slightly fleshy and showing deep and powerfully presented fruit, is lifted by those lemon and lime citrusy characters and a fine chalky acidity. There’s still a degree of tension here as you would expect in a wine only a few months after bottling, yet the power and the class are evident from the start. There’s a beautiful pure intensity here, and it’s a wine that drinks so well now but will handle extended cellaring. Drink: 2025 - 2040; Price: $27.00; Rating: 95 Points: Ray Jordan