Description
The Henschke family have made wine at their estate in the Eden Valley since 1868, with fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke taking over in 1979. Together with his viticulturist wife, Prue, they have taken their two single vineyards, ‘Hill of Grace’ and Mount ‘Edelstone’ and transformed them into two of Australia’s most sought-after wines. Through a combination of Stephen’s winemaking and great viticulture from Prue, who has re-introduced native plants in their vineyards to improve biodiversity, they have built upon their inheritance and turned this traditional producer into one celebrated worldwide. The original 1860s grain barn at the family property in Keyneton, built from field stone and mud by first-generation winemaker Johann Christian Henschke, now houses the Henschke cellar door. The winery occupies the original wool shed, built next to the grain barn in 1952.
The 16 hectare Mount Edelstone vineyard, situated at 400 metres above sea level in the Eden Valley, was planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, a descendant of George Fife Angas, who founded South Australia. Unusual for its time, only Shiraz was planted. First bottled as a single-vineyard wine in 1952 by Cyril Henschke, Mount Edelstone is the longest continuously produced single-vineyard Shiraz in Australia. The ancient 500-million-year-old soils are deep red-brown clay-loam to clay, resulting in low yields from over 100 year-old dry-farmed, ungrafted centenarian vines. Organic and biodynamic practices in the vineyard are supported with undervine mulching and permanent cover crops. Three quarters of the vines are trained on a Scott Henry trellis to increase sun exposure and promote earlier ripening; the remainder are on original two-wire trellises to allow a drooping canopy and reduce shoot vigour.
Medium garnet with crimson hues. Intense and evocative aromas of briary black currant, blackberry, blueberry, with lifted notes of sage, bay leaf, crushed flowering herbs, black pepper, anise and hints of cedar. The palate is rich and complex with well-defined blackberry, mulberry, red plum and black currant fruit, layered with sage, black pepper and bay leaf, and carried by fine-grained, mature, velvety tannins for an almost endless finish.