Henschke - Hill of Grace Shiraz - 2016

This has a very complex nose, offering so many facets of spices and fragrance with florals and orange peel, as well as crushed stones, ripe black cherries, blackberries and dark cherries, earth, chocolate and more. The intensity and power here is very tightly held and it has a build of such precise tannins, which carry very intense and assertively ripe blackberries, dark cherries, ripe plums and blueberries. So much on offer here. This has a very bold, intense feel. Exceptional vintage. One of their finest. 100 Points Jamessuckling.com From a core of vines planted around 1860 (plus some 100+ and 35+yo vines) at 400m elevation. Matured 18 months in 85/15% French/ American oak, 29% new. Such effortless grace and caressing elegance, in the presence of commanding endurance that will sustain it for half a century. This is the paradox that defines the legendary fable that is Hill of Grace. The 2016 embodies this: the profound depth of black fruits, bathed in the inimitable fragrance and exotic Chinese five-spice that characterises these old vines, set to tannins more finely textured yet more commanding than ever. Resist the seductive temptations of its youth and drink the 2015 first, because the true spectacle of 2016 is decades away. 99 Points Tyson Stelzer, The Wine Companion