Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz is Australia’s greatest single vineyard wine. Its fame is connected profoundly with the work of Stephen and Prue Henschke. This intensely perfumed, concentrated and velvet textured wine evokes a family tradition, extreme craftsmanship and a beautiful inimitable aesthetic. It belongs to an unfolding and endless story that evokes the soul of this Australian age.
The atmospheric and beautiful Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz is Australia’s most famous single vineyard wine.
- Langton's Classification VII
The vineyard was established at Parrot Hill in the Eden Valley (around 1860) by Nicolaus Stanitzki and has since been handed down through the generations to the Henschke family.
It's been worth the wait, and then some, for this is a flawless Hill of Grace. Perfect colour, fragrant dark cherry/berry aromas and flavours, positive savoury tannin and French oak support, and great aftertaste. 99 points, Wine Companion.
'Gravitas. Depth of fruit. Lift, life and spice but a weightiness, an aristocratic presence. Hill of Grace Shiraz has a special place in Australian wine life but this is a particularly special release. There are myriad flavours and aromas on offer here. It’s entrancing. Fennel, blackberry, violets, ground spice, a lick of soy, flickers of light, purrs of dark. A rumble of firm, integrated, robust tannin. This is a great one.'
97 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front.
'Deep, dark red with a good tint of purple and a classic Hill of Grace bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, blueberry and dried herbs, with the trademark hint of mulberry jam and a little forest floor. The palate is powerful, intense, concentrated, with more smoky oak than Hill of Roses, but it's been subtly handled. Remarkably supple, fine-grained tannins, gorgeous texture, tremendous length. There is great profundity but also elegance. A very stylish wine. It's at a far remove from the blockbuster Barossa style. A totally authentic vineyard wine: it could not be anything but Hill of Grace. As a new release Hill of Grace, this is as good a vintage as I've ever tasted. I suspect it will rate 99 points when mature.'
98 Points, Huon Hooke.
Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2012 Hill of Grace Shiraz is a little reticent on the nose to begin, opening out to a somewhat paradoxically tantalizing Black Forest cake, beef dripping, fertile loam and tree bark nose with hints of black pepper, Marmite, bay leaves, eucalyptus, licorice and baker’s chocolate. The medium to full-bodied palate is a wonderfully intricate mélange of mineral, savory, dark fruits and spice layers, framed by velvety tannins and refreshing acidity, finishing epically. This is a truly great Hill of Grace that has just entered the first stage of its drinking window and should continue to develop beautifully over the next 25+ years.
99 points, Wine Advocate (September 2017)
