It all feels a little bit like the preliminaries are over and the main bout is commencing.

For many Australian winemakers and wine lovers, across most of South Australia, 2021 is one of, if not the greatest vintages yet experienced. The early clues came in the form of scintillating Riesling from the Eden and Clare Valleys and was soon followed by an endless parade of wonderful wines, reds, and whites, at every price point.

Henschke’s ‘Cyril Henschke’ vineyard in the Eden Valley, South Australia

Naturally, the vast majority have been and gone, much of it consumed. Anyone serious about Australian wine who does not have a range of cases from this great year in their cellar will come to regret it.

Finally, we come to the big guns. Like it or not, so much of the focus is still on wines like Penfolds Grange and Henschke’s Hill of Grace, that the reputation of a vintage can rise or fall on those wines alone. For a vintage like this, the hype for these wines is near deafening.

Henschke ‘The Wheelwright’ Vineyard, Eden Valley, South Australia

Talking with a few wine-writer colleague, the general consensus was that, although scoring can be a blight on assessing wines, if either of these wines are awarded many scores below 99 or 100 then the wine, while not necessarily a failure, will have fallen short of expectations.

It might seem a rather heavy cross to bear but it is one that Henschke and Penfolds have created for themselves.

Grange will be revealed in the next few months (time of writing), although a fortunate few have sort of seen a preview – the fabulous La Chapelle/Grange 2021 blend, but that is another story.

Stephen, Johann, and Andreas-Henschke tasting the 2024 vintage juice from an open top fermenter

Usually, we would not expect to see Hill of Grace and its brethren for another year, the Henschkes giving the wines five years before release. The miniscule and problematic vintages of 2019 and 2020, where they made hardly more than a few buckets of wines like Hill of Grace, have meant a market clamoring for an early release.

Prue Henschke adding bio-compost to an old vine on the Hill of Grace vineyard

The quality and approachability of 2021, as well as a return to a more standard quantity (something that the subsequent years have also provided), meant that they felt comfortable in reducing the release to four years (Penfolds did the same with Grange not so long ago). No final decision yet, but it is likely to stay this way in future.

For those wondering if they blinked and missed 2020, no, you did not. 2020 was so small that the decision was made not to release it, but rather to cellar it for the Museum and Rare program.

The 2021 wines will be released worldwide on Wednesday May 7^th

Henschke 2021 Single-Vineyard release wines

The Tastings –

Prices are UK/A$. All wines are now under Stelvin closures (screw caps). While the team were instrumental in promoting the use of vino-lock for their wines, the cost and environmental footprint of bringing the bottles and closures all the way from Europe, rather than using Aussie bottles, was too much.

It is also worth noting that these notes were taken very shortly after the wines were opened. It was notable that in every instance, when given time – first, a couple of hours and then over the next day or two – the wines opened up, becoming even more approachable, even more extraordinary. For me, this was most pronounced with the Cyril Henschke, but it applied to them all.

Henschke ‘Cyril-Henschke’ 2021 vintage

Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 ($195/£150) – Named after Stephen’s father, Cyril was 4^th generation and instrumental in setting the direction for what was to come. He led the charge to single vineyard, single varietal wines, something not in fashion back in his day. It is a little ironic perhaps that, of all of these prestige wines, this is the only one not a solo varietal, although in this vintage, the Cabernet Sauvignon is joined by just 1% Merlot (the vineyard can provide Cab Franc and Merlot, in addition to the core Cabernet). First made in 1978, this is the 42^nd release, there being no 2011 and 2017.

Henschke ‘Cyril-Henschke’ 2021 vintage

One is immediately struck by the evocative nose with notes of chocolate, blackberries, tobacco leaves, aniseed, a hint of gum leaf, roast meats, black cherry and just a touch of quality Cuban cigars (a mature Partagas Lusitania, if pushed, but that might be a tad specific). A firm and well-structured wine, with balance, punchy acidity and slightly grippy tannins.

Quite seamless, there is serious intensity, and the wine is still very young, perhaps a little too young. Leave it for two to three years before looking at this and then drink over the following ten to fifteen years. Or give it as much time opened into a decanter as you can. Overnight would not be an issue. 95.

Henschke ‘The Wheelwright Shiraz 2021 vintage

The Wheelwright Shiraz 2021 ($160/£125) – A relative newcomer to the portfolio, this is just the 7^th release of this Shiraz. It is from vines in excess of fifty years of age, from a vineyard in the cooler sector of the Mount Lofty Ranges in the Eden Valley, which sits at around 500 metres above sea level (Mt Edelstone and Hill of Grace are both around 400 metres).

Henschke ‘The Wheelwright Shiraz 2021 vintage

This wine has such an exciting nose, with a mix of red fruits but also redolent of black cherry pie. There is early complexity here and this seems not unlike drinking silk. Such projection, finesse and immaculate balance. As the wine opens up, we see more notes of mocha, delicatessen meats, bay leaves, woodsmoke, cassis and licorice.

As with all these wines, the oak is so deftly handled that it is almost transparent. The sleekest of tannins here, this is a wine which lingers with intent. Complete – there is not so much as a hiccup. Twenty years, if you must, easy. 97.

Henschke’s Mount-Edelstone vineyard in Eden Valley, South Australia

Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2021 ($275/£175) – One of Australia’s most famous wines, it too often falls under the shadow of Hill of Grace, notwithstanding that it has been around for even longer. The vineyard was planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, descended from George Fife Angas, one of the founders of South Australia. This is the 69^th release, having been first bottled in 1952 (there was no 2011).

Henschke ‘Mount-Edelstone’ 2021 vintage

The Henschkes see this wine as their “most typical Eden Valley style”. It is the generosity of this wine that makes the most striking impression. Plush, approachable, ripe, just sheer class. There are aromas of aniseed, sage, bay leaves, chocolate, black fruits, soy, cloves and beef stock.

The palate sees more strawberry notes emerge. Seamless, with a nice line of fresh acidity and a lingering finish, it is the seductive creamy texture which stands out. This is a wine vibrating with promise, walking the tightrope between finesse and power. Time in the glass saw the perfumes really explode forth. Twenty to thirty years, standing on its head. 98.

Henschke ‘Hill of Roses’ 2021 vintage

Hill of Roses Shiraz 2021 ($485/£350) – Whilst it is a rare wine, and always excellent, I’ll confess to wondering if it deserved its rather elevated price tag in some vintages. Not this time. The best Hill of Roses I have tasted. A stunning wine, which got better and better with time open.

Plantings are from the Post Office Block, part of the Hill of Grace vineyard and a mass selection from 1989, the first vintage released was 2001 (no 2003, 2011, 2014, 2019 and 2020 was made).

This is where the grapes that hope, one day, to be included in Hill of Grace grow. There has always been a familial link, the vineyard’s DNA if you prefer, but for me, it has never been as clearly chiselled as it is here. This is the wildly exuberant teenager; HoG is the adult.

Henschke ‘Hill of Roses’ 2021 vintage

The nose simply explodes from the glass – cassis, cocoa powder, mocha, graphite, mulberries and beefstock. The balance is so exemplary that one does not even notice it. Seamless and elegant, the tannins here are delicate silk. An astonishing wine of great length which will provide pleasure for the best part of three decades. 99.

Hill of Roses and Hill of Grace at the Henschke vineyards in Eden Valley, South Australia

Hill of Grace Shiraz 2021 ($1,000/£675) – The 60^th release of this famous wine. Many years down the track, expect this to sit amongst the greatest the vineyard has given us. This famous old vineyard in Eden Valley next to the wonderful and scenic Lutheran church, was planted back around 1860, with pre-phylloxera material brought out by a family ancestor, Nicolaus Stanitzki. The first vintage was 1958. Hill of Grace was not made in 1960, 1974, 2000 and 2011.

Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 2021 vintage

If the pass mark is a perfect or near perfect score, this walks it in. There is some of that exuberance we saw in the Hill of Roses, but this is more serious, more intense, concentrated and complex. We have tobacco leaves, cassis (one note I made was that it was like an alcoholic cassis smoothie), sage, black fruits, dried herbs, aniseed, and a touch of forest floor.

Henschke ‘Hill of Grace’ 2021 vintage

Knife-edge balance, incredible length, that creamy and seductive texture, silk tannins – this is an amazing wine which more than lives up to the hype. Well cellared examples should provide immense pleasure over the next forty to fifty years. 100.

For more information, please visit www.henschke.com.au/collections/shop-all

You can follow more of Ken Gargett’s reviews at www.kenfessions.com

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