Hill of Grace, Henschke 2022

The 2022 Hill of Grace Shiraz leads with dark fruit and an abundance of exotic spice to match. The tannins are profuse here, quite distinct from the Hill of Roses tasted alongside. Star anise, cloves, cinnamon (cassia), fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper weave in and out of the blackberry, blueberry, crushed quartz/ferrous undertones. There's a sweet rolling-tobacco character that is highly attractive and lingers through the finish. I love the 2022 vintage. It is fresh and detailed. It may forever live in the shadow of the great 2021 vintage, but not for me—I believe firmly this is a sleeper vintage and will reveal its longevity given time. The allure of it now is not in question, either. Drink: 2026-2072

14.5% alcohol. From one of the oldest extant vineyards in the world, let alone Australia. The soils have a beautiful layer of loess, around 30 cm, over a red/brown earth. This varies from one hectare to the next: underneath can be a silty clay, or a limestone ridge, or schist. In one block there is actually a scree on top of the red/brown earth, which gives earlier ripening. There are 8 hectares at Hill of Grace, and each block is different. The wine is a combination of 6 small blocks within the vineyard, with different characteristics. ‘We can see the flavour differences,’ says Steven. ‘There are subtle flavour difference between the different parts of the vineyard.’ These blocks are picked over about a week. For the first time this wine saw no new oak at all. Fruit like this really doesn’t need it. Enticing aromatics of black cherries, raspberries and blackberries, but this isn’t giving too much away at the moment. There’s some exotic five spice and pepper in the mix, as well as dried herbs. In the mouth this shows incredible concentration and texture, with everything pulling in the right direction. Fine spices, luscious black fruits, some herbal hints and then a long, layered finish, bringing everything together into a complex whole. There’s something very complete about this wine. It’s rich but beautifully balanced, and should age effortlessly for as long as you care to keep it. [Hill of Roses, from younger – 1989 plantings – on the same vineyard is a fantastic wine, but this has an extra dimension.]

Deeper, more concentrated ruby/garnet than Hill of Roses. Much more brooding, savoury and unyielding than the Hill of Roses 2022. This is a wine built to last! Delicate within the idiom of a South Australian Shiraz and beautifully balanced for future consumption. In this wine it’s not too difficult to discern the tannins but they are very ripe and very much in the background of the historic fruit. This is recognisable South Australian Shiraz but should be put away for quite a while! Lots of tar and salt on the very persistent finish. Very much a sore-throat soother. Drink: 2034-2050

May well be the prettiest Hill of Grace yet released. May also be the best, and that’s saying something. I thought 2021 was the greatest yet, then came 2022. Doesn’t have the raw power and luxurious opulence of the ’21, yet this might be a case of less is more. The depth and intensity of fruit that comes from vines that were planted in the 1860s is undeniable, but it’s all harnessed and focused into an effortless, long, and most graceful structure. There’s a distinct combination of black olive and bay leaf with a lift of sage bush. The palate is immensely powerful and intense with a focused concentration of fruit. As it opens up, other sweet fruit characters emerge. There’s a little seaweed and subtle fish oil-like characters. Perfumed and floral with blackberry and blueberry notes. It’s still relatively tight with fine-grained tannins. There is almost no new oak in the 100% seasoned French oak hogsheads, where it spent 20 months. Drink: 2026-2071