Hill of Grace
By David Sly, specialist food and wine writer and editor, Adelaide
‘These fragile sentinels in Barossa’s Eden Valley are among few surviving relics to have avoided phylloxera’
Gnarled 162-year-old Shiraz vines on Henschke’s Hill of Grace vineyard carry a vinous story like no other. Planted on original rootstock, their trunks thick with ancient wood that comprise only 25% living tissue, these fragile sentinels in Barossa’s Eden Valley are among few surviving relics to have avoided phylloxera – and they endure to produce fruit of extraordinary intensity and unique character.
Winemaker Stephen Henschke and his viticulturist wife Prue treat this 8ha vineyard with reverential care. Dry-grown on rich alluvial soils, the oldest vines, planted in 1860, are now so delicate that grapes can only be picked and pruned by hand. Prue’s careful organic composting and mulching ensures maximum microbial activity in the soil and optimal vine health.
Only half the vineyard is planted to Shiraz, with the six oldest blocks (planted in 1860, 1910, 1951, 1952, 1956 and 1965) included in Hill of
Grace Shiraz. Each block is picked at different times around the full moon at Easter (later, significantly, than neighbouring Eden Valley and Barossa vineyards), yielding only about 2.5 tonnes of tiny berries per hectare (average yields for all varieties across Eden Valley in 2021 reached 5.0t/ ha, according to Wine Australia’s November 2021 ‘snapshot’ report).
The site’s fragility – and Henschke’s exacting quality regime – saw no Hill of Grace produced in 2000 or 2011, just one barrel in 2003, and extremely tiny vintages in 2013, 2014 and 2020. But through this journey there are monumental peaks, including the phenomenal 2010 and 2015 vintages, capturing characteristic dried sage, Chinese five spice and black pepper notes atop vibrant blackberry, dark plum and juicy cranberry.
To ensure the site’s preservation, the Henschkes have successfully nurtured cuttings from the ancestor vines onto a nursery block, established in 1989. In 2011, they issued Hill of Roses Shiraz from these ‘new’ heritage vines and the results are exciting, showing many characteristics that make Hill of Grace Shiraz so notable.
Try:
Henschke, Hill of Grace Shiraz 2016
£545-£675 Cambridge Wine Merchants, Handford, Harvey Nichols, Liberty Wines, Oz Wines, Philglas & Swiggot, Vinoteca
Henschke, Hill of Roses Shiraz 2017
£362 Hedonism
Location Keyneton, Eden Valley, South Australia
Owners Stephen and Prue Henschke, Henschke Wines
Size 8ha
Altitude 400m
Aspect North through west to south
Primary soils Silty alluvial and red clay-rich loams atop Cambrian-period schist (540-485 million years ago) Grape varieties Shiraz, Riesling, Semillon, Mataro