-
99
/ 100
-
98
/ 100
-
98
/ 100
-
19.5+
/ 20
-
97
/ 100
Tasting Notes
The dry-grown ungrafted centenarian vines were planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, a descendant of George Fife Angas, who founded South Australia.
Medium garnet with crimson hues. Intense and evocative aromas of briary black currant, blackberry, blueberry, Satsuma plum, 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.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Low Tannin
- Tannic
- Sweet
- Dry
- Low Acidity
- High Acidity
Classification: Red
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2021
Bottle Size: 750ml (Bottle)
Country: Australia
Region: South Australia, Eden Valley
Alcohol %: 14.5%
Cellaring: 15 Plus Years
Scores
99 / 100"Medium deep crimson. Lovely intense raspberry, blackberry pastille, hint mocha aromas with herb garden/ sage notes. Pure and inky textured with superb raspberry pastille, blackberry fruits, persistent fine slinky/ brambly textures and underlying grilled nut, vanilla notes. Al-dente firm at the finish with persistent sweet fruit notes and a kick of aniseed. This a gorgeous reference Eden Valley Shiraz with superb fruit definition, energy and flow. 14.5% alc Drink 2027 – 2040."
- Andrew Caillard MW
98 / 100
"One of Australia’s most famous wines, it too often falls under the shadow of Hill of Grace, notwithstanding that it has been around for even longer. The vineyard was planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, descended from George Fife Angas, one of the founders of South Australia. This is the 69th release, having been first bottled in 1952 (there was no 2011). The Henschkes see this wine as their “most typical Eden Valley style”. It is the generosity of this wine that makes the most striking impression. Plush, approachable, ripe, just sheer class. There are aromas of aniseed, sage, bay leaves, chocolate, black fruits, soy, cloves and beef stock. The palate sees more strawberry notes emerge. Seamless, with a nice line of fresh acidity and a lingering finish, it is the seductive creamy texture which stands out. This is a wine vibrating with promise, walking the tightrope between finesse and power. Time in the glass saw the perfumes really explode forth. Twenty to thirty years, standing on its head. 98."
- Ken Gargett – Winepilot.com
98 / 100
"I used to live next door to this 109-year-old vineyard for nearly a decade and have seen the hard work and attention to detail that goes into its farming. The 2021 is an absolute stunner from a great vintage and I've no doubt that this will age gracefully for decades. The length of flavour with this release is quite something; the fruit is sleek, plush and on-point pure. Blackberry, Doris plum and black cherry layer with spice and hints of sage, bay leaf, pepper, olive tapenade, anise, violets and stone. Velvety and graceful in its flow on the palate with a fresh mineral cadence and superfine, powdered granitic tannins for support. It'll go down as one of the greats."
- James Halliday's Wine Companion
19.5+ / 20
"Calm, deliberate, detailed and celestial, Prue knows when to pick this wine, and I feel she has nailed each bunch with Swiss precision in 2021 because every sip has effortless grace despite the scale and directness of the flavour. This wine has a thrilling future ahead of it, and it is another horizon-expanding example of what this incredible vineyard is capable of."
- Matthew Jukes
97 / 100
"The 2021 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz was planted in 1912 and was 16 hectares from own-rooted, pre-phylloxera James Busby vine stock. The first Mount Edelstone wine was produced in 1952, from 40-year-old vines. The success of the Mount Edelstone was the inspiration for the Hill of Grace single-vineyard wine to be produced from the 1958 vintage. The Mount Edelstone vineyard is planted at 400 meters in elevation and has an easterly aspect trellised to the Scott Henry system, capturing the morning sun and avoiding the hot afternoon sun. The wine is velvety and layered with raw cocoa tannins, black pepper, Sichuan pepper, raspberry and blood plum. This has all the concentration and intensity that we know and love of Mount Edelstone; it speaks clearly to Eden Valley as a place, with notes of sage, bay, crushed rocks and a cool minerality that drives it through the long finish. This is a superb wine. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
- Erin Larkin
