Henschke Hill of Peace Semillon 2022
This is what you might call a vinous juxtaposition with a wine name that suggests tranquility attached to a wine that is (almost) anything but. Super fresh, yes. Super tart with some high energy acidity in the driver’s seat, yes. Tranquil? Less, so, although there are some quiet moments in the seconds after the wine hits the tongue when restful semillon notes of green apple and hay come into view. But, mostly, Hill of Peace rolls briskly in citrus, lemon zest, dusty grapefruit citrus notes, apple and hay with a flinty edge. Svelte, super crisp and packed deep in flavour, it belies its age and, in keeping with Barossa semillon of the past, it is capable of extended ageing. Sourced from 13 rows of vines planted in the Hill of Grace vineyard back in 1952 and matured in seasoned French oak, Hill of Peace deserves a chance, especially those who haven’t seen Barossa semillon in action before. It’s an impressive wine, a keeper. Enjoy now with shellfish or send it to the cellar – both are recommended.
93pts
Bottle Price: $90
Drink: 2026-2038
Henschke Cyril Henschke 2022
This is a wine to make you fall in love with cabernet sauvignon and its secret weapon: tannin. The tannins are superlative, fine grained, agile, pliable, providing not only an important structural role in the 2022 cabernet but enhancing it. It’s a full-on charm offensive – words rarely written about tannin. They arrive in the wine with intent, a conduit for the delivery of intense, concentrated black fruits, dark plums with ripe dark roasting spices layered across earth, leaf, sage and undergrowth. Tannins run long and deep but, gracefully so, contributing elegance to the wine. Beautifully finished and crafted.
97pts
Bottle Price: $210
Drink: 2026-2042
Henschke The Wheelwright 2022
The highest, most southerly single vineyard wine in the Henschke portfolio, The Wheelwright, at 470m, pushes the Eden Valley shiraz envelope – in a good way. The high altitude and a late season have given rise to a slow build up in flavour and riveting spiciness matched to one firm, intense tannin structure. Colour is deep and intense purple. Fragrant aromas sit in the high floral violet and pepper spectrum with cassis, blue and black berries. A firm palate awaits, dense too in flavour, with an essence-like concentration lifted aromatically in peppery notes. But it is a wine requesting more time in bottle, its youth still very much on show – taut, firm and intense – all good signs for a long journey ahead.
95pts
Bottle Price: $165
Drink: 2026-2040
Henschke Mount Edelstone 2022
Impressively purple in colour. Equally impressive is the youthful vibrancy and freshness on show in this four-year-old shiraz with its high spice aromatics, florals and signature Mt. Edelstone herbals. Dark fruits, black cherry mingle with Aussie bush, earth, sage, bay leaf and floral violet top notes. Floating between the layers is a lively spiciness, rising as the wine crosses the palate. Twenty months in French hogsheads (8% new) brings not so much the suggestion of oak as fine textured tannins which play such an important balancing role in both the approachability of the wine now, and its undoubted ability to age 20 years or more. Elegance is a given with Mt. Edelstone, but the youthful finesse of this wine is next level.
98pts
Bottle Price: $300
Drink: 2026-2047
Henschke Hill of Roses 2022
What a beautiful, super elegant expression of Australian shiraz. What was once a nursery block on the Hill of Grace vineyard is now very much a wine of its own individual style defined by the most attractive florals, red fruits, ease of style and an underlying, deceptive power. Deep aromas of red fruits, plum, dark berries, lifted aromatic violet, five-spice, cassia bark, wood smoke and earth. Spices are integral to the Hill of Roses style and here they shine. Tannins are supple – deceptively so – because they are also structurally solid forming the basis for not only a wine of beauty but also substance. What was once a nursery block of shiraz planted on the Hill of Grace vineyard is now 33 years of age. As it nears 35 years, officially old vine age, the Henschkes have chosen to keep the wine separate as a young vine wine. Good news for Hill of Roses lovers – it’s not ready for Hill of Grace just yet!
99pts
Bottle Price: $495
Drink: 2026-2048
Henschke Hill of Grace 2022
Incredible fruit concentration, density and length – quality signatures of venerable old vines – show a classic Hill of Grace in the making. All the ingredients are here: purity of shiraz expression, tannin-acid balance, spices set to seduce, and oak kept to a minimum to showcase the Eden Valley vineyard and the ancestor vines. Oozes a wealth of spices, dark berries, blue fruits, liquorice, fennel seed and earth with gentle herbal, woody notes. Deep, dark with a heart of concentrated fruit on the palate, but, for the now, there is also a juicy aspect to the wine, too, that is most appealing, a freshness delivered alongside a coiled set of tannins. There will be those who choose to open this wine young but, if you can afford to set it down and forget about it for, say 10, 15 or 20 years, do so.
98pts
Bottle Price: $1100
Drink: 2026-2050
