2021 Hill of Grace Shiraz

Stephen and Prue reported there was enough fruit in 2021 to allow picking, block by block, and in perfect harmony.  Hill of Grace benefits from the afternoon heat, resulting in a darker, deeper core than the other wines.  While its scale is breathtakingly impressive, there is thrilling elegance here, too.  This is a spectacular wine from start to finish, with every molecule in its place.  There is a complete directory of this vineyard’s flavours on display in this wine, seemingly cataloguing every nuance from the glorious, inaugural 1958 until the present day and delivering them in epic harmony.  It seems to embrace its ancient history and communicate it in a thoroughly modern language, and while you can taste it today and marvel at its greatness, I think I am only privy to around 80% of its potential.  Over the ensuing two decades, we might be able to add a per cent or two more insight into just how magnificent this wine is, culminating in a perfect 20/20 vision of a perfect 20/20 wine around 2045, whereupon it will hold for those with even more patience!  What a privilege.  2021 is a genuinely humbling wine, and it represents another chapter of wonder in the legend of this ancient land.

The 2021 Hill of Grace Shiraz comes from a vineyard that sits at 400 meters above sea level—a beautiful, remote-feeling place. The vineyard is picked block by block, defined by vine age, soil types, elevation and position within the vineyard. The older vines within the vineyard tend to hold their acidity and retain lower pH with higher natural acidity than the younger vines, which also assists in determining the parcels. "Ironically, this is the simplest wine to make; it's the vineyard that produces the wine like this. It's due to the work in the vineyard over many generations," says Stephen Henschke. So, to the wine. It is pure and fine, with a languid pool of fruit that is characterized by black silty tannins and persistent, seamless length. This speaks of the ancient place, the rocks, the vines. This is just a magnificent, graceful wine here, one that is "immune to hyperbole," as they say. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. The Wheelwright vineyard has 50-year-old vines, Mount Edelstone is over 100 years old, and the ancestor vines in the Hill of Grace vineyard are aver 150 years old.

The pre-phylloxera vines planted on their own roots stretch out in front of the beautiful old Lutheran Gnadenberg church, whose name translates to ‘Hill of Grace’. At the moment the wine is tightly coiled, but time in the glass allows it to open up and reveal layers that hint at its potential for mature splendour. The list of fruit characters is long – there’s red plum, cedarwood, bitter cocoa, Szechuan peppercorns, blood oranges and garrigue – but as soon as you list one flavour you’re struck by a completely different note. There’s nothing shouty about this wine, just subtle waves of flavour that roll over the palate, effortless balance and a finish that stretches towards infinity. Yes, it’s expensive, but it comes pretty darn close to perfection. Matured in 13% new, 87% seasoned hogsheads (84% French, 16% American) for 18 months.