x
  • Country ranking ?

    109
  • Producer ranking ?

    43
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    Now
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb

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The Story

Nicolaus Stanitski, a Henschke ancestor, originally planted the Hill of Grace vineyard during the 1860s above the Barossa Valley. During the 1950s Cyril Henschke took his family concern back to wine and established the Hill of Grace label in 1956. The Shiraz vines – many now over 140 years old – are among the world's oldest genetic Shiraz plant material. It is remarkable that the vineyard remained intact considering the economic uncertainty and the social conditions of the time. The vineyard is planted on red clay soils overlain by sandy and silty loams interspersed with gravels.

There are several blocks including Grandfather’s Post Office Blocks One and Two, Young which is made up of the younger selected material located near the vines of the old post office, and the Church Block, House Block and Windmill Block. Vintage takes place during mid to late April, each parcel vinified separately to maximise blending options. The Hill of Grace style has developed along Grange lines, but by a circuitous route. Vinification takes place in open headed down fermenters with regular pumping over. Towards dryness the wine is drained and pressed. Partial barrel fermentation in a combination of new American and French oak follows to integrate oak and create complexity. The wine is then allowed to mature in the same oak for a period of about 18 months before bottling and further maturation. 

HILL OF GRACE

Location: Eden Valley wine region, 4 km north-west of Henschke Cellars at Keyneton, in the Barossa Range, South Australia.

Varieties: Shiraz (on own roots). Vines originate from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early European settlers. Riesling and Semillon.

Wines Produced: Shiraz – individual vineyard bottling since 1958.

Age: Oldest vines planted in 1860s.

Average Yield: 5 tonnes/hectare (2 tonnes/acre)

Soil: Alluvial, sandy loam over clay.

Trellis: 2 wire vertical/single wire at 70 centimetres.

Planting: Wide planting – 3.1 metres x 3.7 metres. Most are planted east-west, some north-south. Dry grown.

Treatments: Tilled and dodged for many years without herbicide. Only copper and sulphur used for foliage sprays. Now mulched and grassed down. Fungus problems are minimal. Vineyard can be considered 'organic'.

Maintenance Quality: Mass selection carried out over two growing seasons. Establishment of a mother source block.

Rainfall: 520 mm

Altitude: 400 metres


Year Vintage Quality Optimum Drinking

1984 Exceptional 20+ years
1985 Exceptional 15+ years
1986 Exceptional 20+ years
1987 Very Good 15+ years
1988 Exceptional 15+ years
1989 Great 15+ years
1990 Exceptional 20+ years
1991 Excellent 20+ years
1992 Excellent 20+ years
1993 Great 15+ years
1994 Exceptional 20+ years
1995 Excellent 20+ years
1996 Exceptional 25+ years
1997 Very Good 15+ years
1998 Exceptional 20+ years
1999 Excellent 20+ years
2000 Not Produced
2001 Excellent 20+ years
2002 Exceptional 25+ years
2003 Great 15+ years
2004 Excellent 20+ years
2005 Exceptional 20+ years
2006 Exceptional 20+ years
2007 Great 20+ years

 

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Wine Information

Hill of Grace – Henschke Vineyards

The Eden Valley in which the Henschke estate lies, is situated in the Barossa Range to the east, overlooking the Barossa Valley. Together, these valleys comprise what is today known as the Barossa zone.

Hill of Grace is a unique delineated single historic vineyard. The 8-hectare dry-grown vineyard sits at an altitude of 400. The vineyard is comprised of seven 'blocks'. The Grandfathers, as the oldest block is fondly named, was wstablished in the 1860's by ancestor Nicolaus Stanitzki. These vines are planted on their own roots from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early settlers. Keeping the blocks separate allows for variations of soil types, vigour and age of the vines – all of which produce different flavours that are integral components of the complete wine.


The Hill of Grace vineyard was taken over in 1891 by Paul Gotthard (second-generation winemaker) but it wasn't until Cyril Alfred's time as winemaker (1950-1979) that the single-vineyard wine was named Hill of Grace with the first release in 1958.


Soil: rich alluvial soil

Production area: 8 ha

Grape varieties: Shiraz 100 %

Average age of vines: brought from Europe by the early German settlers in the mid 1800s. The original vines are now over 140 years old.

Harvest method: hand picked

Ageing: in 100% new French (50%) and American (50%) hogsheads for 18 months prior to blending and bottling



C.A. Henschke & Co.
PO Box 100
Keyneton S.A. 5353
Australia
Tel. +61 8 8564 8223
Fax +61 8 8564 8294
info@henschke.com.au
www.henschke.com.au

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Tasting note

color

Medium

ending

Medium

flavors

Mint, Tar and New-oak

recommend

Yes

taste

Well-structured and Ripe

Written Notes

Medium deep crimson. Beautiful wine with intense roasted walnut, blackberry pastille, graphite aromas with hints of marzipan. Well concentrated and classical in structure with lovely developed blackberry, roasted walnut, roasted almond flavours, fine grainy claret-like structure and underlying savoury notes, Finishes firm with ample fruit complexity and mineral length. Lovely modulated power and elegance. 12.%% alc Drink now – 2030+ 99 points

  • 99p

This and the next wines chosen because 1986 was a coming of age for Australian fine wine. Possibly the most famous single vineyard in Australia and thus 'a foil to Penfolds' Grange'. 100% Shiraz. Originally planted 1860s. Would have had quite a lot of US oak in the 1980s.
Sweet fruit and sun-dried tomato and a touch of leather and coffee and furniture polish. Dry, very fine tannins though the oak is still in evidence in some toastiness. Persistent but a bit drying on the finish.

  • 92p

Ruby. Ripe, rich, dark fruity, some spices, liquorice nose. Mint. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, dark berries, anise, rich, sweet, almost jammy, long. Nailed the wine, not the vintage. 93

  • 93p
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Information

Origin

South Australia, Eden Valley

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