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Hill of Grace 1997

Henschke, Eden Valley, Australia

Henschke
Eden Valley Australia
  • 95
    Points
  • The 1 228 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 2 Pros of
    4 recommend
    this wine
270 95
  • Taste
  • Moment

  • Country ranking ?

    140

  • Producer ranking ?

    50

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    now to 2030

  • Food Pairing

    Lamb in mild spices cooked at low temperature

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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 an...

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Wine Information

The historic property was originally granted to Charles Flaxman by land grant in 1842 for £1 per acre. It was then sold by George Fife Angas to Nicolaus Stanitzki for £480 in 1873. After planting the great Shiraz vines, Carl August Stanitzki sold the property to Paul Gotthard Henschke in 1891. Growing season 1997 began with a wet winter, followed by a mild dry spring, leading to excellent growth, good set and vigor. Frosts brought damage befor...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

A wet winter with average rainfall during that period. A mild, dry spring, leading to excellent growth, good set and vigour. Late September spring frosts caused significant damage with losses of up to 30%. One of the hottest summers on record with the hottest two-week period in February recorded since 1910. Rain during summer was a godsend to the old dry-grown vines beginning to feel the lack of water, despite causing some splitting and mildew. A mild finish to the season ensuring excellent ripening conditions and accumulation of colour and flavour.
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  • 88p
A wet winter with average rainfall during that period. A mild, dry spring, leading to excellent growth, good set and vigour. Late September spring frosts caused significant damage with losses of up to 30%. One of the hottest summers on record with the hottest two-week period in February recorded since 1910. Rain during summer was a godsend to the old dry-grown vines beginning to feel the lack of water, despite causing some splitting and mildew. A mild finish to the season ensuring excellent ripening conditions and accumulation of colour and flavour. Hill of Grace Medium crimson colour. Raspberry/mulberry creamy aromas with plenty of savoury oak and touches of leafiness and chocolate. Well-concentrated palate with raspberry/mulberry/cherry flavours matched with very classy bisquity/malt oak and leafy/chocolatey tannins building up firm and tight. A really well made wine but only a medium term prospect. 18 points (89/100).
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  • 89p
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Information

Origin

South Australia, Eden Valley

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

None

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Inside Information

The beautiful and ethereal Henschke Hill of Grace, first vintaged by fourth-generation winemaker Cyril Henschke in 1958, is Australia’s most famous single-vineyard wine. Current custodians Stephen and Prue Henschke, together with their elder son Johann, have recently released the 52nd vintage, the 2009 Hill of Grace, a quintessential Eden Valley shiraz with its pristine blackberry aromas, plum, anise and exotic five spice nuances, fine lacy tannins, voluminous freshness and subtle savoury oak complexity.

The historic Hill of Grace vineyard, which takes its name from the adjacent Gnadenberg Lutheran Church (Gnadenberg was a region in Silesia, meaning Hill of Grace), lies in a shallow fertile valley at around 400m, and was originally planted around the 1860s by Nicolaus Stanitzki, a Henschke ancestor. The gnarled old, low-yielding shiraz vines are dry grown and managed using organic and biodynamic principles to preserve soil moistures, optimise vine and soil health and ‘drought proof’ the vineyard.

The vineyard is planted on red clay soils overlain by sandy and silty loams interspersed with gravels. The individual blocks are named after local landmarks and the remains of the 19th-century Parrot Hill village. Several blocks were planted on their own roots using pre-phylloxera shiraz vines brought out from Europe by the early settlers. These include the surviving 1860s plantings known as the Grandfathers, and Post Office Block One a few years after. The Church Block, House Block and Windmill Block were planted with the same clonal material during the 1950s.

The fruit from each block is handpicked at optimum maturity and individually vinified using traditional winemaking techniques, which include the use of open-top fermenters built in the 1950s, together with submerging of the cap and minimal handling. After two years in oak barrels, the wine is blended and bottled without fining, before being matured in the Henschke cellars until release.

The highly refined, beautifully proportioned Hill of Grace speaks profoundly of place, history, generations of effort and remarkable evolution. It’s a story of luck, passion, imagination and drive for quality that has resulted in more recent vintages reaching another plane, by optimising magnificent vineyard resources, superb technical skills and craftsmanship.

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