2008 Henschke, Hill of Grace Shiraz, Eden Valley, Australia

Full Vinolok-closed bottle just 1,232 g. 100% Shiraz from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe in the mid 1800s and grown on the Henschke Hill of Grace vineyard managed with organic and biodynamic practices. Harvested 9–13 March. Matured in new 84% French, 16% American) oak hogsheads for 21 months prior to blending and bottling. Bottle-aged in the Henschke cellar for museum release. TA 6.1 g/l, pH 3.56.

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.

Drink 2020 - 2040

From a heatwave vintage comes this decadent but shapely 2008 Shiraz Hill of Grace. It immediately delivers blackberry, chocolate and new leather notes with tar and cassis touches. The palate follows suit, bold and dry, with flavors of licorice, dried spices and roasted meats before a long and muscular finish. The 2008 is an outlier, but the quality is undeniable.

Drink 2032 - 2048

Well-upholstered, with plush baked plum, fruit ‘leather', black olive and tapenade, plus praline and chocolate oak 100% new). Long leash tannins let the fruit spool out, revealing notes of black tea, iodine, baking spices, cardamom and tamarind paste. Then the finish reels in, with crushed stone-like dry extract. Satisfyingly expansive, yet powerful and controlled, it reflects a year in which grapes were harvested during a record heatwave, with 15 consecutive days over 35°C.

Drink 2024 - 2038

The 2008 Hill of Grace Shiraz 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. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under Vinolok.

Drink 2024 - 2048

Terrific colour and depth. Nose has almost bottomless depth and richness: very very dark spice and dark plum fruit aromas with baking spices and fragrant exotic Eastern spice notes. Plenty of baking spice here too. The palate has immensely supple and deep, dense tannins; terrific strength and length; and layers of ripe, rich dark plum and cherry fruit flavor. Tannins drive sheet-like through the palate and deliver long and juicy. The oak is beautifully matched, and there's a super creamy graphite-tinged impression with an immense future ahead.