Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby with ruby hues. Spicy, complex and dark fruited aromas of blackberry, dark red plum and blueberry, with sage, bay leaf, thyme, anise, black pepper, nutmeg and cedar. A rich, plush and beautifully integrated palate offers layers of spicy dark fruits, pepper, sage, musk and clove, balanced by bright acidity, excellent depth and long and elegant fine, velvety tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
First bottled in 1952 by Stephen Henschke's father Cyril, this reknowned cuvée is likely Australia's longest consecutively produced single-site wine, from a vineyard planted in 1912. A gem of a old-vine wine in every sense (it is named for the yellow opals once found in the area), it is spectacular in this vintage. The mouthfeel is seductive and supple, carrying trademark savoury bay leaf, sage and peppercorn notes that integrate beautifully into ripe, black bramble and blood plum flavours. Structure for long ageing is assured by firm yet velvety tannins and fresh acidity. A gorgeous, opulent, complex wine that, on several tastings over three days, I preferred to Hill of Grace.
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Australian Wine Companion
I lived on the property that lies between the Mount Edelstone and Hill of Grace vineyards for eight years. My god it's a beautiful part of the world. Planted in 1912 by George Fife Angus and purchased by Cyril Henschke in 1974, though it had been bottled as a single-vineyard wine since 1952. Picture perfect blackberry and blackcurrant fruits, shades of mixed spice, purple floral tones, earth, licorice, rosehip and crushed quartz. A gorgeous expression of site, pure with long, ripe tannins, lacy mineral-laden acidity providing clarity and drive and a finish that sails on for some time before finishing chalky and sustained.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz is inky and powerful, sweetly fruited and bright. The tannins are almost lost in the abundance of the plush fruit power. This is an impressive wine, one that shows a splay of savory tannins and looks just as fresh as the day I tasted it. If anything, it is more impressive today—it feels as if it has not moved in the eight years since its harvest. This is excellent. It has a pH of 3.54, 6.47 grams per liter of total acidity and 14.5% alcohol. Rating: 97+
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Wine Enthusiast
Impressive for its complexity and seamless, plush tannins, with rich baked, spiced plum, salted caramel, star anise, dark chocolate and fresh details of rosemary and sage. Reveals a black pepper accent that lingers on the provocative finish, where the flavors keep coming.
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Wine Spectator
Impressive for its complexity and seamless, plush tannins, with rich baked, spiced plum, salted caramel, star anise, dark chocolate and fresh details of rosemary and sage. Reveals a black pepper accent that lingers on the provocative finish, where the flavors keep coming.
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.