2008 Henschke 'Hill of Grace' Eden Valley Shiraz (Museum Release)
Critic Scores:
(Perfect Score) 20/20 points - Jancis Robinson
99 points - Ken Gargett
98 points - Tyson Stelzer
98 points - Halliday Wine Companion
98 points - James Suckling
97 points Erin Larkin
Tyson Stelzer's Shiraz of the Year 2024
20/20 points (perfect score) Jancis Robinson (Mar 2024)
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)
98 points Tyson Stelzer's Top 250 2024
The first Museum & Rare release for Hill of Grace hails from the fabled 2008 season, a warm vintage that is even greater today than it was on release 11 years ago! The bountiful density of the year is encapsulated in enticingly juicy satsuma plum, black cherry and blackberry fruits that have effortlessly held poise and definition through time. The lifted five spice that characterises this site is bountifully present, permeating through a finish of breathtaking line and length, held sure by impeccably fine tannins just beginning to soften. A sensational Hill of Grace evolving in assured slow motion, glorious today and with an enormous future extending before it.
The supple, silky touch of magnificent old vines is mesmerising. The depth, density and dark-fruit presence of The Laird are on full and magnificent display in 2018, in deep and alluring layers of satsuma plum, blackberries and liquorice. To achieve such magnitude and frame it in lift, purity, definition and vibrancy as strong as this is the unique hallmark of this wine and its inimitable site, brought to life more profoundly than ever by Ian Hongell and Nigel Blieschke in the first great vintage in which their efforts in the vineyard and the winery have aligned. This is one of the finest Lairds yet, and time may reveal it to be the greatest to date. A worthy joint winner of my Shiraz of the Year.
19 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review (Feb 2024)
Very deep, concentrated brick-red colour of appropriate maturity, the bouquet dominated by earthy/forest-floor savoury tertiary aromas with old leather armchairs, terracotta and dried porcini mushroom aromas to the fore. A subtle trace of licorice. Sumptuous palate flavour, with masses of tannin but also a core of sweet fruit endures. The finish is energetic and driving, the aftertaste lingers on for an eternity. A majestic mature shiraz in the prime of lts life. A great wine!
97 Points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
The 2008 is just looking so svelte and fine. The wine is elegant and spicy and super fine, and it leads with fresh leather and star anise, bay leaf, tobacco, curry leaf, cocoa and peppercorns that all twist and swirl through the bouquet. In the mouth, the tannins have evolved to a state of pure repose—seamless and fine, they flow and carry the Satsuma plum fruit along with it. This 2008 makes a very strong case for cellaring your wine for some time prior to drinking it. If you have the means, I would recommend buying some of this vintage (maybe solo, maybe with friends) and drinking a bottle. Experience the evolution of tannin and fruit. It's a wonder. It's a lovely wine, re-released into the wild. Lucky us. This has decades to go."
Winemaker Notes:
Deep ruby with bright red hues. Beautifully fragrant and ethereal aromas of boysenberry, blueberry, black forest, bramble and five spice, with underlying notes of violet, sandalwood, leather and cedar. A plush and concentrated palate of black plum, cherry and blue fruits are layered with sage, star anise, exotic spice and black pepper. Velvety, fine-grained tannins deliver a long and elegant finish. (henschke.com)
Critic Scores:
(Perfect Score) 20/20 points - Jancis Robinson
99 points - Ken Gargett
98 points - Tyson Stelzer
98 points - Halliday Wine Companion
98 points - James Suckling
97 points Erin Larkin
Tyson Stelzer's Shiraz of the Year 2024
20/20 points (perfect score) Jancis Robinson (Mar 2024)
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)
98 points Tyson Stelzer's Top 250 2024
The first Museum & Rare release for Hill of Grace hails from the fabled 2008 season, a warm vintage that is even greater today than it was on release 11 years ago! The bountiful density of the year is encapsulated in enticingly juicy satsuma plum, black cherry and blackberry fruits that have effortlessly held poise and definition through time. The lifted five spice that characterises this site is bountifully present, permeating through a finish of breathtaking line and length, held sure by impeccably fine tannins just beginning to soften. A sensational Hill of Grace evolving in assured slow motion, glorious today and with an enormous future extending before it.
The supple, silky touch of magnificent old vines is mesmerising. The depth, density and dark-fruit presence of The Laird are on full and magnificent display in 2018, in deep and alluring layers of satsuma plum, blackberries and liquorice. To achieve such magnitude and frame it in lift, purity, definition and vibrancy as strong as this is the unique hallmark of this wine and its inimitable site, brought to life more profoundly than ever by Ian Hongell and Nigel Blieschke in the first great vintage in which their efforts in the vineyard and the winery have aligned. This is one of the finest Lairds yet, and time may reveal it to be the greatest to date. A worthy joint winner of my Shiraz of the Year.
19 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review (Feb 2024)
Very deep, concentrated brick-red colour of appropriate maturity, the bouquet dominated by earthy/forest-floor savoury tertiary aromas with old leather armchairs, terracotta and dried porcini mushroom aromas to the fore. A subtle trace of licorice. Sumptuous palate flavour, with masses of tannin but also a core of sweet fruit endures. The finish is energetic and driving, the aftertaste lingers on for an eternity. A majestic mature shiraz in the prime of lts life. A great wine!
97 Points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
The 2008 is just looking so svelte and fine. The wine is elegant and spicy and super fine, and it leads with fresh leather and star anise, bay leaf, tobacco, curry leaf, cocoa and peppercorns that all twist and swirl through the bouquet. In the mouth, the tannins have evolved to a state of pure repose—seamless and fine, they flow and carry the Satsuma plum fruit along with it. This 2008 makes a very strong case for cellaring your wine for some time prior to drinking it. If you have the means, I would recommend buying some of this vintage (maybe solo, maybe with friends) and drinking a bottle. Experience the evolution of tannin and fruit. It's a wonder. It's a lovely wine, re-released into the wild. Lucky us. This has decades to go."
Winemaker Notes:
Deep ruby with bright red hues. Beautifully fragrant and ethereal aromas of boysenberry, blueberry, black forest, bramble and five spice, with underlying notes of violet, sandalwood, leather and cedar. A plush and concentrated palate of black plum, cherry and blue fruits are layered with sage, star anise, exotic spice and black pepper. Velvety, fine-grained tannins deliver a long and elegant finish. (henschke.com)
Critic Scores:
(Perfect Score) 20/20 points - Jancis Robinson
99 points - Ken Gargett
98 points - Tyson Stelzer
98 points - Halliday Wine Companion
98 points - James Suckling
97 points Erin Larkin
Tyson Stelzer's Shiraz of the Year 2024
20/20 points (perfect score) Jancis Robinson (Mar 2024)
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)
98 points Tyson Stelzer's Top 250 2024
The first Museum & Rare release for Hill of Grace hails from the fabled 2008 season, a warm vintage that is even greater today than it was on release 11 years ago! The bountiful density of the year is encapsulated in enticingly juicy satsuma plum, black cherry and blackberry fruits that have effortlessly held poise and definition through time. The lifted five spice that characterises this site is bountifully present, permeating through a finish of breathtaking line and length, held sure by impeccably fine tannins just beginning to soften. A sensational Hill of Grace evolving in assured slow motion, glorious today and with an enormous future extending before it.
The supple, silky touch of magnificent old vines is mesmerising. The depth, density and dark-fruit presence of The Laird are on full and magnificent display in 2018, in deep and alluring layers of satsuma plum, blackberries and liquorice. To achieve such magnitude and frame it in lift, purity, definition and vibrancy as strong as this is the unique hallmark of this wine and its inimitable site, brought to life more profoundly than ever by Ian Hongell and Nigel Blieschke in the first great vintage in which their efforts in the vineyard and the winery have aligned. This is one of the finest Lairds yet, and time may reveal it to be the greatest to date. A worthy joint winner of my Shiraz of the Year.
19 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review (Feb 2024)
Very deep, concentrated brick-red colour of appropriate maturity, the bouquet dominated by earthy/forest-floor savoury tertiary aromas with old leather armchairs, terracotta and dried porcini mushroom aromas to the fore. A subtle trace of licorice. Sumptuous palate flavour, with masses of tannin but also a core of sweet fruit endures. The finish is energetic and driving, the aftertaste lingers on for an eternity. A majestic mature shiraz in the prime of lts life. A great wine!
97 Points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
The 2008 is just looking so svelte and fine. The wine is elegant and spicy and super fine, and it leads with fresh leather and star anise, bay leaf, tobacco, curry leaf, cocoa and peppercorns that all twist and swirl through the bouquet. In the mouth, the tannins have evolved to a state of pure repose—seamless and fine, they flow and carry the Satsuma plum fruit along with it. This 2008 makes a very strong case for cellaring your wine for some time prior to drinking it. If you have the means, I would recommend buying some of this vintage (maybe solo, maybe with friends) and drinking a bottle. Experience the evolution of tannin and fruit. It's a wonder. It's a lovely wine, re-released into the wild. Lucky us. This has decades to go."
Winemaker Notes:
Deep ruby with bright red hues. Beautifully fragrant and ethereal aromas of boysenberry, blueberry, black forest, bramble and five spice, with underlying notes of violet, sandalwood, leather and cedar. A plush and concentrated palate of black plum, cherry and blue fruits are layered with sage, star anise, exotic spice and black pepper. Velvety, fine-grained tannins deliver a long and elegant finish. (henschke.com)
DETAILS
VINTAGE - 2019
VARIETAL - Shiraz
COUNTRY - Australia
REGION - Barossa Valley, SA
BOTTLE SIZE - 750ml
