Why this old-vine semillon is one of McLaren Vale's most exciting white wines

Oria-Riff’s Dry White must rank as one of the top vinous discoveries of the past 12 months. 

The 2024 vintage was, according to Halliday taster Marcus Ellis, “a revelation”. In his review of the 2025, he wrote: “…this is quickly becoming one of my favourite Vale whites.” 

Aussie-born, Canadian-bred Cooper Davis-Draper is the winemaker. In 2022, he was on his way home from Mexico with “$600 in my pocket and a bottle of mezcal in my backpack,” when he stopped to visit some mates in the Barossa. “I accidentally ended up making a few barrels of wine – oops! – and Oria-Riff was created!”

Although the timing was spontaneous, Cooper had long been thinking about a label of his own. “Hooked” since his first vintage in Heathcote at 18, and armed with a degree from Adelaide Uni, he spent years working and gaining experience in wine regions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and France, and travelling in between. 

It was during a few “contemplative” months in northern Africa, following a stint in Burgundy, that it started to take shape (‘Riff’ is a reference to the Rif Mountains in Morocco). A couple of years later, in Florence, he landed on ‘Oria’ – an Italian word which roughly translates to ‘golden’ or ‘rising sun’.

The first wine was a grenache syrah blend he labelled Barossa Red and released under his easy drinking La Petite Soif banner. The second and final vintage Cooper did in the Barossa in ’23 saw the debut of Oria-Riff’s Dry White (semillon from a 50-year-old vineyard in Vine Vale) and Dry Red (old-vine syrah from a vineyard in Springton, planted circa 1901). 

Cooper moved to McLaren Vale, where “the surf was much better,” ahead of the ’24 vintage, and now makes both wines with fruit from famed organic grower Fiona Wood’s vineyard. “Fiona is absolutely amazing at what she does and is the greatest organic farmer I've had the pleasure to meet,” he says. 

The Dry Red now comprises grenache grown on this special site on the edge of Blewitt Springs, planted in the 1960s on deep, sandy soils. The Dry White is still 100 per cent semillon, from “a pristine block” within the same vineyard.  

Although both wines are excellent, the Dry White is particularly captivating. A strikingly singular expression of semillon, it’s much more savoury and textural than is typical for the variety. The '24, Marcus says, is “waxy and saline… Umami charged. So fine and linear, yet deeply flavoured. Mineral… ever savoury, coiled, sapid and teasingly moreish… Love it.”

The ’25, released in late March, shows more concentration than the ’24 – a result of a hot and dry season, although with the wine predominantly comprised of fruit picked early, the alcohol is still low. “It’s got a little more flesh through the mid, but the game is still electric tension," Marcus says. "The first release was no fluke… A superb follow up.”

It’s early days for Oria-Riff. But it’s a label worth getting excited about. Cooper certainly is. Mid last year, he took out a lease on a handful of blocks – an acre each of young grenache, old-vine grenache, and mature chardonnay vines – that he farms himself. He also works for Vanguardist’s Michael Corbett in the Rende vineyard, and during the growing season, for Fiona on her vineyard.

“The absolute goal would be to steward three to four hectares of my own land and farm not only grapes but the entire system. But I'm a while away from that, so very keen to keep learning from people like Fi and Michael for years to come,” he says.

“But honestly, I love it in the Vale. Being able to work with these old, wise dry-farmed grenache blocks, and then get into the surf or have a barbecue on the beach afterwards, it’s the absolute dream and I'm blessed to be living it!” 

Subscribe to the Halliday Wine Companion Podcast

Hear from some of Australia's top winemakers and industry professionals as they share their stories and insights on the Halliday Wine Companion Podcast. Listen here, or on your usual podcast platform, and remember to rate, share and subscribe so you never miss an episode.