Henschke Hill Of Grace Shiraz 2005

Brent Gushowaty rated this wine as 95/100 with the following review:

Eye:
Pale with a cherry/garnet rim.

Nose:
Floral, concentrated, complex red berry notes.

Palate:
As on nose, perfumed,floral, concentrated red berry flavours, touch of white pepper, medium minus body with medium intensity. An extraordinarily finely textured, poised and very supple wine supported by a perfect, demure, balancing acidity. It has a very long and echoing finish. Truly one of a kind. Grace indeed.

It should continue to evolve and grow more complex for many years to come.

Date Tasted: May 28, 2015



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Mymi Thesingingsommelier rated this wine as 97/100 with the following review:

Johan Christian Henschke planted his first vineyard in the Eden Valley in the early 1860’s and his family has been making wine ever since!
Johan was one of many Silesians who had fled their homeland in search of religious freedom, and he arrived from Kutschlau in 1841. The wines he crafted were initially intended for consumption by family and friends, but with the first commercial release in 1868, believed to be principally riesling and shiraz, the wheels were set in motion for greater things to come.
Moving forward, fourth-generation Cyril Henschke pioneered varietal and single-vineyard wines at a time when blended wines and fortifieds were in vogue. His greatest legacy was the creation of Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone in the 1950s.
Today, fifth generation winemaker Stephen and his viticulturist wife Prue are recognised worldwide for their exceptional wines, innovation, sustainability in the vineyard and as custodians of the land.
The family has even created a nursery program to protect their vineyards and continue to lead the way environmentally to enrich their land as a legacy for their children, the sixth generation.
This 2005 Hill of Grace is made from 100% Shiraz grapes from pre-phylloxera (a root louse that sucks sap from grapevines, reducing their productivity and eventually killing them. This pest’s infamous claim to fame is the devastation of European vineyards in the late 1800’s) material brought from Europe in the mid-1800’s. The vineyard is an historic site, opposite an old Lutheran church, named after a picturesque region of Silesia called Gnadenberg, or Hill of Grace. This vineyard and wine embody the history of the Henschke family and their pioneering forebears and is recognized as Australia’s finest Shiraz.
In the glass, it is a deep dark rusty red with voluptuous legs.
On the nose, it vibrates with dried sage, freshly ground black pepper, plum, Chinese 5 spice blend and candied cherry.
The palate is alluring and sultry. Dry with the slightest hint of residual sugar, silky tannins meet a lusty acidity transforming the mouthfeel into an almost ethereal experience. Hint of cacao, plum and dark coffee in a persistent and lingering smoky finish.
Hill of Grace is a wine of such beauty and purity that one cannot help but feel blessed after tasting... Just stunning!
Enjoy in the best of company to serve with your most memorable of meals...

Allison & Chris Wallace rated this wine as 97/100 with the following review:

Huge bouquet that greets your nose well above the glass! Black cherries, and blackberries abound in this full bodied and still somewhat tannic wine. A classic 'iron fist in a velvet glove', this has near perfect balance and comes across as simultaneously structured and plush. Lovely secondary notes of mint and pepper and a very long finish. Not many are in the market of $700 bottles of wine, but if you are, this is one to consider.

Dianne Fisher rated this wine as 97/100 with the following review:

Youthful in the glass and palate despite it being 10 years old. Complex with a smooth texture. Touch of leafy earth, black olive, every ripe and juicy black fruit imaginable with a text book shiraz peppery spice.