Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
From vines planted in 1912, this has been an icon of South Australia Shiaz since 1952, when it was first bottled as a single-vineyard wine. Menthol and vanilla notes frame black cherries and cassis on the nose, while the palate reveals supple tannins and meaty, savory complexities. The finish is softly dusty, fine and long. Drink now–2030.
-
James Suckling
Nicely contained and composed. Really fresh blackberry fruits, dark cherries, chocolate, roasted coffee and roasting herbs. The texture is fine and silky. A wealth of blackberry and dark plum flavors that hold the middle palate with effortless length. Screw cap.
-
Wine Spectator
Plush and powerful, this opens with dried black olive and savory, minerally accents to the dark berry and plum flavors. Offering plenty of depth and complexity, the finish echoes with details of five-spice powder and anise. Drink now through 2030.
-
Wine & Spirits
Youthful in its succulent wild-blueberry flavors, this wine’s bold and concentrated old-vine fruit doesn’t give up any of its brightness as it takes on air. In fact, it’s a little reduced, needing plenty of air to come forward. Mount Edelstone was planted in 1912, the vineyard 100 percent shiraz, dry-grown on its own roots. The purity of fruit Prue and Stephen Henschke captured from those old vines in 2014 will sustain this wine for decades.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Higher in elevation and topographically more dramatic than the Barossa Valley floor, Eden Valley abuts it to its south and east. While it is a bit of an extension of Barossa, Eden Valley is topographically different than the pastoral Barossa Valley, and is composed of rocky hills and eucalyptus groves.
Recognizing Eden Valley’s potential with Riesling in the 1960s and 70s, producers started to move their Riesling production from Barossa to these better sites where schist soils on hilltops would produce more steely, tart and age-worthy examples. A most famous site, planted by Colin Gramp, called Steingarten, today produces one of the most outstanding Australian Rieslings. Youthful Eden Valley Rieslings express floral, grapefruit and mineral, while with time in the bottle, they become increasingly toasty and complex.
Riesling isn’t the only grape the region can grow; undeniably at lower altitudes Shiraz does very well. Mount Edelstone is a notable vineyard as well as the Hill of Grace, which boasts healthy Shiraz vines well over 100 years old. This is the only Australian region where Merlot has a made a name for itself and Chardonnay can be spectacular, particularly from the High Eden subregion in the southern valley.