2021 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone Eden Valley 750 ml

I used to live next door to this 109-year-old vineyard for nearly a decade and have seen the hard work and attention to detail that goes into its farming. The 2021 is an absolute stunner from a great vintage and I’ve no doubt that this will age gracefully for decades. The length of flavour with this release is quite something; the fruit is sleek, plush and on-point pure. Blackberry, Doris plum and black cherry layer with spice and hints of sage, bay leaf, pepper, olive tapenade, anise, violets and stone. Velvety and graceful in its flow on the palate with a fresh mineral cadence and superfine, powdered granitic tannins for support. It’ll go down as one of the greats.

At 113 years old, the Mount Edelstone vineyard is nothing short of a treasure. This vintage is still quite primary—set for the long haul—with rich (but fresh) blackberry and plum at the fore. There’s a hint of dark chocolate and sage here, a whisper of violets, tomatoes and beet root there. A satiny gloss to the palate coats the tongue with all the goodness of the nose, the fine, savory tannins slowly rising to prominence. A lovely, oh-so-Henschke release that will bring pleasure now, but will age beautifully for a long as you’ve the patience to wait.

The 2021 Shiraz Mount Edelstone is a stunner, offering a tremendous mix of refinement and understated power. It is quite beautiful, although tightly bound right now, delivering a compact core of spice, bay leaf, and violets, while oak adds well-judged support. There is a balletic feel to the palate as ethereal flavors of measured ripeness are backed by firm acidity and tight tannins. This release is marked by delicious energy and overall lightness of touch—an exceptional vintage for this label.

The 2021 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz was planted in 1912 and was 16 hectares from own-rooted, pre-phylloxera James Busby vine stock. The first Mount Edelstone wine was produced in 1952, from 40-year-old vines. The success of the Mount Edelstone was the inspiration for the Hill of Grace single-vineyard wine to be produced from the 1958 vintage. The Mount Edelstone vineyard is planted at 400 meters in elevation and has an easterly aspect trellised to the Scott Henry system, capturing the morning sun and avoiding the hot afternoon sun. The wine is velvety and layered with raw cocoa tannins, black pepper, Sichuan pepper, raspberry and blood plum. This has all the concentration and intensity that we know and love of Mount Edelstone; it speaks clearly to Eden Valley as a place, with notes of sage, bay, crushed rocks and a cool minerality that drives it through the long finish. This is a superb wine.