1982 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz

Medium weight, brick red colour. Aromas of liquorice spice and plum with cedar and vanilla end notes. Excellent fruit on the palate - with dusty, dark chocolate and spice flavours. Fine, dry lingering tannins, with long chocolate spice aftertaste.

WINERIES TASTING NOTESMade from 100% shiraz grapes from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early German settlers in the mid 1800s, and grown in the Eden Valley wine region.Hill of Grace is a unique delineated single historic vineyard. The famous century-old Hill of Grace vines were planted around the 1860s by an ancestor, Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just north-west of the winery The vineyard lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran Church, built of local field stone, which was euphoniously named Gnadenberg, meaning 'Hill of Grace'.The 1982 vintage was very good, both from quality and quantity aspects. Yields were up, some varieties by 50% and more. Good winter rains and a mild spring ensured good fruit set. The summer was dry and generally mild except for a severe heatwave just prior to vintage. Fortunately the extremely wet winter provided sufficient soil moisture for the vines during the hot spell. Late rains at the end of April brought the vintage to a rapid halt with grapes splitting badly, causing some fruit loss.Deep brick red colour. Sweet ripe plum jam, prune, liquorice and exotic floral aromas. Spicy and gamy with chocolate, leather and sweet earthy notes, violets, sweet ripe cherries and plums. Intense, rich and concentrated with a silky long finish. Excellent vintage, optimum year 2007. Decant before serving.