1997 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz 750ml

Vintage Description

The preceding winter was unusually dry, with frosty nights and clear days. The rain instead came in spring, and the luxuriantly growing vines benefited from the greenhouse effect. The indicators were of a hot dry summer, although only a serious burst of heat was experienced in mid January and again at the end of February; otherwise it was a mild summer, which had a significant delaying effect on the ripening process. An early onset of autumn caused a late harvest, with average yields, good to exceptional quality and intense flavour in the grapes.

Wine Description

Dark crimson with deep red hues. Lifted, pure, almost opulent, dark fruit and ripe plum aromas with herbal minty notes. The palate is broad and attention grabbing with incredibly sweet blackcurrant fruits and layers of youthful tannins, that showcase the structure of this elegantly balanced wine.

Drinking Window

2013-2030

TOP VINTAGES

2013, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 1999, 1998, 1996, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1986, 1978, 1972, 1962, 1959, 1958. Not made in 2011, 2000, 1974 and 1960.

Background

Over 165 years ago Johann Christian Henschke came from Silesia to settle and farm in the Eden Valley region. By the time third-generation Paul Alfred Henschke took over the reins in 1914, the famous Hill of Grace vines were more than 50 years old. They were planted around the 1860s by an ancestor, Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just north-west of the winery. The red-brown earth grading to deep silty loam has excellent moisture-holding capacity for these dry-grown vines, which sit at an altitude of 400m, with an average rainfall of 520mm. Hill of Grace is a unique, delineated, historic single vineyard that lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran church which is named after a picturesque region in Silesia called Gnadenberg, meaning Hill of Grace. Cyril Henschke made the first single-vineyard shiraz wine from this vineyard in 1958 from handpicked grapes vinified in traditional open-top fermenters.