As we head into Christmas, the 2022 vintage is less than two months away. The growing season has been cooler than average and we are hoping for mild weather to take us through to a predicted later harvest.
It is expected that La Niña will continue through summer with cooler maximum temperatures and potentially higher rainfall. The 2021 vintage was also influenced by La Niña, and produced beautiful, pristine wines, with great quality across the board, similar to vintage 2002.
Despite still being impacted by the effects of the pandemic, we have celebrated some very special moments with our team this year, including being awarded with a Robert Parker Wine Advocate Green Emblem for outstanding efforts in sustainable wine production, and being ranked 25th in the Top 50 World’s Best Vineyards for the second year in a row and number 1 in Australia.
We placed 4th in the Top 50 World’s Most Admired Wine Brands 2021 and were named the Most Admired Wine Brand in Australasia, and received ‘Best Tasting Experience’ in the Barossa in Australia’s Best Cellar Door Awards 2021, presented by Gourmet Traveller WINE.
In recent wine shows, we were awarded the Best Semillon Trophy for our 2018 Louis Semillon, Best Grenache, Shiraz and the Mourvèdre Dominant Blend Trophy for our 2020 Five Shillings Shiraz Mataro, as well as Most Successful Exhibitor – Medium Sized Producer at the 2021 Barossa Wine Show. Our 2021 Julius Riesling took out the Best Riesling Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards in November.
We were extremely honoured and overjoyed to be awarded 2021 New World Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast in their Wine Star Awards. To be one of only two Australian wine brands nominated in 2021 by such a highly respected international publication was wonderful news and we are proud to be representing family-owned wineries of Australia, with strong environmental values and a passion for hand-crafted, high-quality wines from precious, historic vineyards.
We were also thrilled to receive a perfect score of 100 points for our 2016 Hill of Grace from Nick Stock, contributing editor of JamesSuckling.com. Keep an eye out for our 2017 Single Vineyard Release; 2017 Hill of Grace, 2017 Hill of Roses, 2017 Mount Edelstone and 2017 The Wheelwright, due for release 4 May 2022.
We wish you the very best for the upcoming festive season and look forward to sharing more Henschke experiences with you in 2022. Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes from the Henschke family and team.