Tasting Notes
JancisRobinson.com 20
Full Vinolok-closed bottle just 1,232 g. 100% Shiraz from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe in the mid 1800s and grown on the Henschke Hill of Grace vineyard managed with organic and biodynamic practices. Harvested 9-13 March. Matured in new (84% French, 16% American) oak hogsheads for 21 months prior to blending and bottling. Bottle-aged in the Henschke cellar for museum release. TA 6.1 g/l, pH 3.56.Deep shaded dark ruby. Wonderfully intense and complex nose. This wine just wraps itself around you! (And I haven’t even tasted it yet.) Intense cocktail of prunes and something floral. Really rich. Luscious palate of gorgeously ripe fruit, just the right level of refreshing acidity with mineral top notes. Extremely rewarding with many layers. Very long indeed. (JR)
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040
Vinous 93
From a heatwave vintage comes this decadent but shapely 2008 Shiraz Hill of Grace. It immediately delivers blackberry, chocolate and new leather notes with tar and cassis touches. The palate follows suit, bold and dry, with flavors of licorice, dried spices and roasted meats before a long and muscular finish. The 2008 is an outlier, but the quality is undeniable.
Anticipated maturity: 2032-2048
Robert Parker 96
"According to Stephen Henschke, the 2008 Hill of Grace Shiraz was among the earlier picks that vintage, avoiding the worst of the heatwave that followed. It was never the most elegant or perfumed vintage, but it’s rich and creamy, loaded with mocha and blackberry flavors. Full-bodied and intense, it remains rather big and muscular, with a slightly coarse but tremendously long finish. It could go another 20 years in a cool cellar."
Anticipated maturity: 2018-2038
