Henschke Hill of Grace 2017

Muscular with great vitality and sensuality, Hill of Grace 2017 combines gravitas with grace. Supple swathes of fruit – blackberry with blueberry and red cherry – come scented with china ink, tinder bush, black pepper, star anise, wattleseed, tea leaf and baking spices. Tobacco pouch, mulch and subtle game undertones strike a savoury note. Rafts of seamless, spicy tannins build and buoy layers of flavour. Terrific authority, strength, complexity and length.

• Drinking Window: 2023 - 2047
• Reviewer Name: Sarah Ahmed
• Review Date: March 2022

Strikes its own level of fragrant complexity and fruit vitality that places it a cut above the other 2017 Henschke Eden Valley shiraz wines, with aromas of boysenberries, red plums, blackberries and mulberries, swathed in baking spices, sage, brown pepper and forest wood. So fresh and very spicy. The palate has a very layered and elegantly fine brand of tannin, with a rich, velvety array of fresh dark fruit, such as blackberry and satsuma plum, swirling spice flavors and a late dusting of white pepper. The acidity is so well balanced with such fine and elegant tannins. Very detailed. The tannins creep and clench, claiming stealthy palate length that bodes well for cellaring potential. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

• Reviewer Name: Nick Stock
• Review Date: April 2022

2017 Hill of Grace is inky black, and the nose is loaded with exotic spices, violets and chypre. This is a masculine, power-packed wine with amazing amplitude and depth of flavour, but it is in no way heavy or ponderous. There is a ‘cool vintage’ feel throughout, and this means that each indulgent black-cherry soaked sip is countered by revitalising grip and freshness, which is extremely enjoyable. Like a black panther waiting to pounce, this is a youthful, vigorous Hill of Grace, and while this is not a showy, sweet-fruited, juicy vintage, it is definitely a wine that will appeal to true connoisseurs of this estate because we all know that the leaner, more athletic wines will make old bones with ease! 2017 Hill of Grace is akin to a full orchestra performing an intricate piece that requires perfect command of each and every instrument. It is the antithesis of a greatest-hits, opera-light track packed with crowd-pleasing crashing and bashing, and this is why I really admire just how elegant this wine is in 2017.

• Review Date: March 2022

Deep ruby to brick-red colour with a tinge of purple lingering in the meniscus. The bouquet is very expressive and multi-layered with raspberry and cassis, regional dried herbs—especially sage and oregano, while the palate is tremendously intense and profoundly flavoured with multi-faceted flavours and the kind of effortless concentration and seamless texture that only the greatest shirazes achieve. There is something mysterious and hard to identify about this wine which is seriously delicious. A great Australian shiraz.

• Drinking Window: 2022 - 2047
• Reviewer Name: Huon Hooke
• Review Date: March 2022

The original circa-1860 plantings are supplemented by centenarian vines and some other old vines (at least 35 years of age), but all on their own roots from the original vineyard. Despite massive expectations and perhaps a more challenging vintage, the 2017 Hill of Grace Shiraz doesn't disappoint, delivering ample weight, richness and expansiveness on the palate, coupled with impressive structure and length. Complex scents of camphor, raspberries and mulberries appear on the nose, alongside hints of sage, black olives and licorice, while the tannic, softly dusty finish lingers, suggesting plenty of longevity—20-plus years should be no problem for this beauty.

• Drinking Window: 2025 - 2045
• Reviewer Name: Joe Czerwinski
• Review Date: March 2022