There is then fantastic impact on the palate and density of fruit, which is still tight and firm. A little floral element adds a nice touch. But ever so slowly the door was opened and it has shown itself to be a magnificent vintage, built for the long haul thanks to a rare combination of sheer power, composure and balance.ĭeeply coloured, there are many layers of dark fruit with a light dusting of dried sage, meat and peppery spice. It’s still holding all the cards close to its chest, even after being open for a couple of days. While the 2015 vintage was already showing its complexity this wine, like the 2016 Mount Edelstone Shiraz, is a different beast altogether. In discussions with Stephen Henschke about this wine the term tightly coiled kept coming up. Henschke Hill of Grace Eden Valley Shiraz 2016
Watch the full tasting with Stephen, Prue and Justine Henschke The wines will be available from Wednesday May 5. To celebrate the launch of Hill of Grace, Winepilot hosted a tasting this week of the new range with some of Australia’s top wine experts, including Jeni Port, Andrea Pritzker MW, Simon Curkovic and Melissa Moore, joined by Justine, Stephen and Prue Henschke to get not only the opinions from leading critics and sommeliers but also to hear direct from the family about these wines and what they mean to them personally. Tasting all three wines together provides a fascinating journey through Eden Valley Shiraz, from the raw power of Mount Edelstone to the perfumed beauty of Hill of Roses and then to the complete package that is Hill of Grace. It has taken some years for the Hill of Roses to rise up but this wine is now absolutely close to the top of the tree in the Henschke portfolio. The area where the Hill of Grace vineyard was planted was historically also a small town, with the remains of the local Parrot Hill Post Office still sitting across the road from this vineyard. The Hill of Roses is created from younger vine fruit taken off the Hill of Grace vineyard, and a particular part known as the Post Office Block. Perhaps the most fascinating component of this year’s releases is the Hill of Roses Shiraz 2016. The wine is still made from the original Mount Edelstone vineyard planted in 1912.
Mount Edelstone actually predates the Hill of Grace wine, with its first release back in 1952. This year the Hill of Grace release is unusually partnered with the launch of Mount Edelstone from the same vintage.
The Hill of Grace is also one of the most beautiful vineyards in Australia, if not the world. And after all these years it is still largely based on the original Hill of Grace Grandfather vines, planted around 1860. Henschke’s Hill of Grace has an unrivalled history in Australian single vineyard wines thanks to its almost uninterrupted line of vintages stretching back to 1958. This product doesn't have any reviews yet.One of the biggest days on the Australian wine calendar is almost here – the new vintage release of Henschke’s single vineyard wines, including the iconic Hill of Grace from 2016. View all products by Old Plains California Residents: Click here for Proposition 65 WARNING e wine opens-up over time in the glass, displaying ripe tannins and long savoury finish. Medium bodied flavours follow through from the aromatics with plenty of “raw power”. Tasting Notes Lifted aromatics with spice, plums and dark chocolate. Basket pressed with ferment finishing off in barrel / tank. Raw Power fruit was machine harvested early morning with whole berry ferment in 10 ton open top concrete fermenters with twice daily pump-overs. Vintage commenced Feb 13 with the ‘Plains shiraz, fruit came thick and fast over the next four weeks in a compact crushing season. Our Adelaide Plains and Mt Lofty Ranges vineyards really stood up to the dry conditons, yields were approx 15% down, quality was up and no instance of disease, damaged or stressed fruit were recorded. In terms of quality it will rate extremely high, in terms of fruit timing it produced some of our earliest picking on record, in terms of weather conditions one of the driest and coolest for a long time. Vintage/Winemaking Notes Across the board 2013 was an outstanding vintage in many ways.