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Deep ruby with ruby hues. Ethereal and exotic aromas of blackberry and blood plum with five-spice, star anise, clove, fennel seed, cinnamon and black pepper, and more subtle hints of bay leaf and crushed flowering herbs. The palate is plush, deep, complex and powerful, with a core of supple blackberry and blueberry fruit laden with spice and pepper, and beautifully balanced by fine acidity resolving into a long and elegant finish of rolling, velvety tannins.
Due to the limited production from this single vineyard, a limit of 3 bottles per person has been applied.
Beautifully balanced with voluminous blackberry, mulberry, elderberry roasted chestnut flavours, lovely fine grained and loose knit tannins, superb volume, and integrated acidity. Finishes firm and minerally long. A superb young wine. Destined to become a classic vintage.
100 points - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal
ANDREW CAILLARD MW THE VINTAGE JOURNAL March 29, 2023
"Beautifully balanced with voluminous blackberry, mulberry, elderberry roasted chestnut flavours, lovely fine grained and loose knit tannins, superb volume, and integrated acidity. Finishes firm and minerally long. A superb young wine. Destined to become a classic vintage."
KEN GARGETT WINEPILOT April 18, 2023
"An inky purple hue, this is still quite tight but the notes of plums, cassis, bergamot, blueberries and aniseed come forth riding a wave of flavour. There is immaculately integrated oak and the complexity in the wine is already evident with five-spice and chocolate emerging on the palate. The finish is of a length more often associated with great old fortifieds. The tannins are abundant but soft, cashmere-like and ever-so-fine. The focus and structure will see the wine sail into the future. A profound wine of finesse and ethereal class. Well cellared bottles will easily see out forty or fifty years. And blossom over that time."
MATTHEW JUKES MATTHEWJUKES.COM March 29, 2023
"This is a classic 2018 with a unique fruit expression, yet the incredible concentration coupled with the inbuilt density of tannins is in perfect sync. The length is impressive, too, and the fruit character is kept up from start to finish, and while the earth, five spice and pepper notes seem to sit back a little in the glass, they are buried deep down in this wine."
TINA GELLIE DECANTER March 29, 2023
"As always, it's a powerful, muscular wine built for the long haul, showcasing silky but structured tannins, fresh acidity, and concentrated, complex yet graceful flavours of ripe blackberry and boysenberry, lighter red and blue fruits, earthy beetroot, peppery cured meat and an exotic, herbal incense note."
ZEKUN SHUAI JAMES SUCKLING March 16, 2023
"A superb and harmonious Hill of Grace with wonderful complexity on the nose that keeps bringing you back to the glass. Intense, lush and concentrated. Super silky and svelte tannins glide through the even and cohesive palate."
JAMES HALLIDAY THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN April 15, 2023
"It opens with gloriously heady scents of wild herbs, spice and pepper, thence flawlessly balanced dark berry fruits, velvet tannins and quicksilver acidity. It?s not often a red wine with a 30-plus-year future is ready for consumption from day one."
DAVE BROOKES HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION March 29, 2023
"Grace by name, grace by nature, it is an elegant, beautiful wine, tanninâacid architecture on point, the fruit depth is just stunning, dotted with five-spice, sage, pepper, charcuterie, crushed quartz and the most lovely, kinetic tannin structure. Finishes with great sustain, harmony and grace. Voluminous and complex, with amazing fruit density and just a complete wine."
HUON HOOKE THE REAL REVIEW March 21, 2023
"Deep red colour with tints of purple and blackâŠthe bouquet more earthbound, more terrestrial at first, with fresh-turned earth and charred oak aromas leading, an echo of the eucalypt forest on a hot day too, while the palate is very powerful, firmly structured and solidly built, with abundant firm tannins and a slight alcohol afterglow. There is tremendous intensity, very full body and amazing horsepower. With time in the glass the trademark dried-herb notes arise, sage and oregano, with traces of black pepper and clove as well, the palate bursting with richness, a deep core of sweet fruit and a tremendously long follow-through, redolent of ironstone. A big wine for this vineyard, with bold, drying but supple tannins and great authority."
RAY JORDAN THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN April 17, 2023
"Deep red colour with tints of purple and blackâŠthe bouquet more earthbound, more terrestrial at first, with fresh-turned earth and charred oak aromas leading, an echo of the eucalypt forest on a hot day too, while the palate is very powerful, firmly structured and solidly built, with abundant firm tannins and a slight alcohol afterglow. There is tremendous intensity, very full body and amazing horsepower. With time in the glass the trademark dried-herb notes arise, sage and oregano, with traces of black pepper and clove as well, the palate bursting with richness, a deep core of sweet fruit and a tremendously long follow-through, redolent of ironstone. A big wine for this vineyard, with bold, drying but supple tannins and great authority."
JENI PORT WINEPILOT May 1, 2021
âThe fruit soars in blackcurrant pastille, black fruits, briar, earth, bramble, toasted spice, supported by â once again â the most magical and lifted floral aromatics in violet and rose. A fine web of tannins offers a deeper insight, one that is dense and firm, built to last. The word on the palate is elegance.â
ERIN LARKIN THE WINE ADVOCATE April 7, 2023
"The 2018 vintage was a beauty: warm, largely free from disease pressure and responsible for a suite of wines across the region that still today speak of vitality, energy and grace. It will go down as one of the greats of the past decade and likely more and, for me, is on par with the great 2015."
MAX ALLEN JANCISROBINSON.COM March 29, 2023
""...refreshingly âelegantâ, spicy and bright to smell, and intense but restrained and composed in the mouth ... an exceptional vintage..."
JANCIS ROBINSON JANCISROBINSON.COM March 29, 2023
"Subtle nose of minerals and earth⊠Lots of ripe-but-refreshing fruit suggests there's hardly any tannin here at all... Wonderfully long and refreshing. It does taste like a vineyard in a bottle!"
MARYANN WOROBIEC WINE SPECTATOR April 25, 2023
"This remarkable wine is rich, dense and generous yet also restrained and wonderfully elegant, with silky tannins and flavors ranging from fresh, fleshy black cherry, wild blackberry and baked plum cobbler fruit to sage and rosemary. The long, epic finish shows strong, malty Assam black tea and whiffs of sandalwood and rose petal, plus a savory note of Kalamata olive that lingers."
TIM ATKIN MW TIMATKIN.COM April 19, 2023
"Tasting Hill of Grace is often a moving experience, especially so in an excellent vintage like 2018. Using vines planted between 1860 and 1965, itâs one of the great wines of Australia as well as the world. Inky, layered and profound, with maturation in an 83/17 combination of French and American barrels, this is a wine that carries its power and concentration comparatively lightly. Five spice, fennel and vanilla pod aromas lead you into a palate that has intensity, focus and, yes, grace, blackberry and blueberry fruit, fleshy, sculpted tannins, deftly handled oak and a lift of freshness and acidity. A world-class wine from a unique site."
ANGUS HUGHSON VINOUS.COM April 19, 2023
"The 2018 Shiraz Hill of Grace is stunning from the get-go, boasting ethereal aromas that immediately draw you in, including mixed spices, damson plums, new leather, five-spice, and old earth notes with a gravelly edge. Oak sits comfortably in the background with remarkable all-around composure. The immaculate palate showcases robust flavors and muscular tannins packed tightly together. The wine slowly builds in the glass to reveal layers of roasted meat and spice with exceptional palate tension and vigor to finish. The 2018 is complete and destined for greatness."
"It was 1958 when my father Cyril first unveiled the shimmering elegance of the shiraz from Hill of Grace. This tiny vineyard owned and tended by his brother Louis had lain quietly in a faraway corner of our Eden Valley, the dry-grown vines already 100 years old. Amazed by the extraordinary character and complexity he found, Cyril decided to celebrate the site in a single-vineyard, single-varietal wine.
"This trailblazing move, encouraged by the success of his Mount Edelstone Shiraz (made since 1952), went against the prevailing Barossa norm of making fortified or blended wines. My father dreamt of a fine wine future for Henschke. He was intrigued by the distinctive personalities of his two old-vine creations. These were pure, beautiful varietal wines from unique Australian vineyards.
"Although his existing market for these new Henschke wines was small, it was enthusiastic. He could see change coming with enlightened immigrants driving a more cultural approach to food and wine in post-war Australia. So he forged ahead, full of determination and youthful gusto. He added to the winery, dug underground cellars and even opened his own wine bar in Adelaide to sell Henschke wines. As awards mounted and success grew, he was often quoted in media stories. So fascinating to browse these and hear his voice again: âYou canât treat wine just as you please and expect it to knuckle under and behave. It has a will of its own, a personality of its ownâ.
"Cyril was an artist and a visionary, full of intellectual curiosity. In his laboratory, books were piled high alongside wine awards, a pH meter and a telescope. Iâll always remember the night he rushed us outside to see the aurora australis. The lab also doubled as a darkroom. I shared my fatherâs love of photography; the way memories could be captured by the impression of light acting on silver coated film. This paralleled the way he captured snapshots of time and place in his wines. Photographic negatives inspired our black and silver labels created in the mid-1960s.
"2018 was a year of wonder for several reasons. We celebrated 150 years of Henschke family winemaking and 60 years since Cyril captured that first shimmering edition of Hill of Grace. That year, nature collaborated too, delivering an exceptional season. The 2018 Hill of Grace sings with the rains that nurtured, the sun that warmed, and the nights that cooled. It reflects the inherent characters of this wondrous vineyard site with exotic spices, plush complex layers of fruit, pure fine acidity and long velvety tannins."
Stephen Henschke, Chief Winemaker
