1986 Hill of Grace Shiraz
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Tasting notes
This benchmark 1986 Shiraz Hill of Grace displays a fabulous mixture of power and subtlety. There is a wonderful array of aromas with wave after wave of cocoa bean, black earth, cloves and graphite notes and charcuterie-aged complexity. A firm, muscular palate follows, retaining tension and torque while offering secondary flavors of aged meat, Chinese five spice and truffle over a long, sustained finish. Exceptional with years left to run.
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Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Considered one of the great vintages of Hill of Grace, and still, after almost four decades, a very impressive, brooding wine, full of dark, dense macerated plum and bramble, with some savoury wet-stone minerality and firm tannins. Some obvious remnants, though, to me, of sweet oak (new, American) propping up all that fruit. (MA)
Deep brick color, the 1986 Hill of Grace is a well-defined nose of dried mulberries and kirsch with hints of truffles, menthol, earth and cigar boxes. Medium-bodied with good fruit concentration and plenty of savory, spicy layers of flavors, it has bright acid, medium-firm, grainy tannins and a long finish. It is mature. Importer: Negociants USA, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 259-0993
Markedly darker than most and still crimson with some notes of purple! Fresh, vital. Intense, vigorous, rich and round. Real grunt to this wine. Suddenly quite different from its immediate predecessors. Such concentration and energy. Still youthful. Spicy dry powder (five spice is suggested) harking back to the first few vintages. Liquorice. Lots of fine tannin here too. (JR)