Greenstone embodies everything that we search for in quality wine producers: vineyard specific wines of elegance, complexity and drinkability; wines that speak of place; wines that work well with food. The Greenstone project brings together English MW David Gleave, Italian winemaker Alberto Antonini and viticulturalist Mark Walpole. Wapole has taken the revolutionary step of planting the Greenstone vineyard to an east-west row orientation to shield the fruit from the strong, summer sun, to allow for a more gradual ripening process and to retain natural acidity. The wine is made by Sandro Mosele at Kooyong Winery, with Alberto Antonini’s involvement. The resulting wine is about as far removed from the blockbuster-styled Heathcote reds as you can imagine and this suits us down to the ground. This is a pure, refined, spicy Syrah that reeks of class. As James Halliday has written, with such a young vineyard producing wines of this quality “…one wonders just how exceptional the site is.” The first four vintages of Greenstone released have elicited 95-Points (2005), 95-Points (2006), 95-Points (2007) and now 96 Points (2008) from James Halliday. Somewhat obviously it is rated as a 5-Star Winery.

Four different Shiraz clones were selected for the unique aspects of the Greenstone Vineyard, three from the Barossa (1654, 2626 and 1127) and one from Coonawarra (R6WV28). Grapes are hand picked in and transported to the Kooyong Winery on the Mornington Peninsula where Alberto Antonini and Sandro Mosele collaborate on the vinification. Grapes underwent a natural cold soak and were fermented with natural yeasts. Treated to a period of two weeks maceration in open top fermenters. The cap is punched down by hand to extract good colour and ripe tannins. After fermentation, the wine was aged eighteen months in a combination of new and prior use French oak barriques

The 2008 is the most serious and powerful Greenstone yet, which is a statement in itself given the elegance this label is already known for. Indeed by the time I had looked at this a couple of times, I was making mental comparisons with the likes of Dalwhinnie, Bests, Langi and St Peters. Yep, it is seriously good. The nose is about deep, dark berried fruit with some lifted violet and musky notes and hints of both oak and mint/eucalypt. The dark fruited theme continues in the mouth with juicy plum and cherry on a long palate of line and length, the ample fruit is nicely balanced by the supple, fine grained tannins and a lifted acidity on the finish. This is as good a young Heathcote Shiraz can be and the brute power here is the complexity, not the weight – which is medium to full. I loved it with some air time, I suspect I will love it more with 5 to 8 years down time when it will reveal itself as an absolute bargain buy. Exceptional stuff! Drink: Now – 2018+; Quality: Exceptional; BW; WineStar© July 2011

Right up there with the best of prior Greenstone releases, an exercise in refined elegance; the colour is excellent, the red and black cherry fruit aromatic and lively, the tannins smooth, the oak perfectly balanced and integrated, the natural acidity underlining the fresh finish. Classic medium-bodied red, inviting the second glass, not just the second taste. Rating 96 Points; Drink to 2023 $30 Date Published on 12 Jan 2011; James Halliday Australian Wine Companion

Daryl Groom began his winemaking career working with Saltram, Krondorf and Peter Lehmann, wineries all situated in the Barossa. He joined Kaiser Stuhl in 1980 as white winemaker. With the takeover of Kaiser Stuhl by Penfolds in 1982, he continued as the new company's white winemaker. 1985 he was promoted to red winemaker, becoming senior red winemaker in 1988, responsible for all Penfold's, Kaiser Stuhl and Tollana red wines. This included the making of Grange. Daryl is now as big a name as winemakers become being in charge of California's famous Geyser Peak winery and finding the time to return home each year and produce his 'baby'.

A combination of Shiraz grapes from 60-year-old vines and young vines from the Kalimna area of the Barossa Valley. The tough growing conditions in these parts produce grapes with very small berries in small clusters which in turn produce amazingly concentrated wine deep red, almost black in colour showing its youth on the hue. The nose has dark everything with licorice, blackberry and cassis notes well balanced with a lick of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is big but retains its elegance. The oak is extremely well handled and already integrating with the quality fruit.

Groom Shiraz has already been described as a Grange clone, which whilst a great honour for those involved, it would be nice if this could develop its own identity as given the handful of vintages made, this will become a very much sought after classic at a fraction of the price of equivalent quality icon wines.

One of the earliest starts on record due to lighter than average crops. The harvest was slowed in February due to heavy rain events, but with diligent vineyard management the fruit was harvested in good condition and at full ripeness. This wine was made in a mixture of static, rotary and open top fermenters for a period of up to six days on skins. The fermentations were pumped over up to eight times daily or headed down and drained and returned twice daily. After pressing, the wine was matured in contact with American and French oak for up to nine months. Components of the wine were also matured in oak barrels for a similar period of time, before being blended together.

Vibrant red purple.Spicy black pepper and dark plums dominate the lively nose. Balanced levels of fresh chocolate and graphite oak provides complexity and lift. A fleshy, fruit driven wine with fruit flavours of rhubarb and black plums coupled with varietal spice. The wine has a fine, long tannin finish with judicious but balanced oak adding balance and length.

Trophy ~ Best Shiraz - 2011 Riverina Wine Show
Trophy ~ Best Popular Premium Red - 2011 Riverina Wine Show
Top Gold ~ Shiraz Class - 2011 Riverina Wine Show
Gold Medal - 2011 National Wine Show

One of the most elegant to date under this label; medium-bodied, silky texture and very long in the mouth; perfect aftertaste. Rating 96 points Drink 2016 Date Tasted Oct 04 James Halliday Wine Companion

A major achievement from McLaren Vale’s hottest vintage ever, this finely balanced, vibrant and fine-grained shiraz presents a delightful expression of briary cassis, redcurrant and dark plum flavour with just a hint of meatiness. There’s a light menthol/mint influence, tightly integrated creamy/mocha oak and lingering undertones of saddlery. Framed by firm, bony tannins, it’s long and savoury. (McLaren Vale, $90 retail, approx., 18.7/95, drink 2013-2021) Jeremy Oliver

Tightly knit, rather closed but pristine shiraz of intensity and elegance. Its musky, meaty aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants are a little hemmed in at present by sweet cedar/mocha oak, which also overshadows the palate’s tightly packed small berry and plum flavours. Moderately firm and very spicy, this sweet-fruited shiraz should emerge into a refined and polished wine. 18.2, drink 2009-2013+ (McLaren Vale Padthaway Clare Valley Frankland River, $90 retail, approx.) Jeremy Oliver

The 2005 vintage is sourced from premium McLaren Vale vineyards where vine age ranged from 45 to 104 years of age. Fruit was handpicked, de-stemmed and fermented in small open top vessels, then pressed via traditional basket presses. The wine is then racked to French oak barriques from renowned Burgundian coopers from the forests of Troncais and Allier. The resultant flagship Shiraz is as exceptional as Eileen Hardy herself. up to reveal an underlying complexity of black olive, peat and aniseed. Hints of seasoned oak char further complex this fragrant and powerful Shiraz bouquet.

Polished, stylish and seamless, this very intense and youthful shiraz will age superbly. Heady and alluring, its smoky fragrance of violets, blackberries, dark plums and mocha/chocolate oak reveals undertones of charcuterie meats and bramble. Full to medium in weight, its appealingly sour-edged and chocolatey palate of luscious, juicy shiraz, smoky French oak and velvet-smooth tannin simply eases its way along, culminating in a savoury finish of genuine structure and strength.(19.0/96, YTD 2017-2025+) Jeremy Oliver

Deep, dense, purple-crimson, exceptional for a five-year-old wine; has everything expected of a great Australian red destined for a long life - other than a screwcap - with an opulent array of black fruits, ripe tannins and quality oak. Stains on the sides of the cork are unsettling, but ignored. Gold medal Sydney Wine Show '10. Cork. 14% alc. Rating 96 Points; Drink 2030 $107 Date Tasted Feb 10 James Halliday Wine Companion

All brands and companies go through ups and downs – this year, Hardys’ premium reds seem on the up. It now has a stellar portfolio of red wines. Eileen Hardy Shiraz is the top-of-the-range Hardys red, and while it can be heavily oaked, it has never succumbed to the super-high-alcohol craze. Super-swish regional shiraz. It tastes of chocolate and blackberries, cocoa and cream. That said, it’s juicy and lively, dark in its berried fruit profile, but vibrant. This is not in any way over-oaked. Or over-cooked. Instead, it’s long and juicy and elegant – it’s the epitome of both its region and its variety. Rated : 95 Points Alcohol : 14% Price : $105 Closure : Cork Drink : 2011 - 2022; By Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

Trophy - McLaren Vale Wine Show 2007
Gold Medal - McLaren Vale Wine Show 2007
Gold Medal - Sydney Royal Wine Show 2010
Gold Medal - Perth Royal Wine Show 2008
Gold Medal - Royal Queensland Wine Show 2009

This wine has now sold out. We do apologise. Please note, we have a very limited supply of the subsequent vintage, Hardys HRB D641 Shiraz 2007. This has 4 Capital City Gold Medals, 94-Points Halliday and 94-Points from The Wine Front and is the same $19.99 price. It can be found here.

The inaugural HRB Shiraz 2006 is sourced from premium vineyards in Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills. This unusual blend combines the powerful inky and mint fruit of Clare with the elegance, spice and pepper fruit from the Adelaide Hills. The final wine is complex and savoury with an understated power that is very much in the style of cooler climate Australian Shiraz that has become increasingly popular due to their fragrance, medium bodied weight and fine texture. Deep Ruby Red. A complex amalgam of spice, pepper, mulberries and mint interwoven with rich oak notes. Complex and expressive, this wine is juicy, full to medium bodied with flavours of red berries, spice and chocolate underpinned by tightly focused tannins on the finish. Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills
 
Joint Winner - Winestate World's Greatest Shiraz Challenge 2010
Gold Medal - National Wine Show 2009
Gold Medal - National Wine Show 2008
Gold Medal - Royal Melbourne Wine Show 2008
Gold Medal - Royal Hobart Wine Show 2008

Honours are drawn level after a grand blind taste-off between more than 700 wines that pitted Australia's best shiraz wines against iconic syrah brands from France and other world producers. For the first time, judges in the 'World's Greatest Shiraz Challenge' hosted by Australia's Winestate Magazine were unable to split the top two - Hardys HRB D637 2006 Shiraz from South Australia and the 2006 Domaine Auguste Clape Rhone Cornas (syrah).

"It was an exhaustive contest involving different styles and price points and estate-grown versus regional vineyard blends - and in the end our judges found it impossible to decide a clear winner," said Winestate publisher Peter Simic. The Hardy's HRB D637 2006 Shiraz is a blend of Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills grapes and retails at $39AUD, while the Auguste Clape is the benchmark flag carrier for the small appellation of Cornas with a price tag of $210AUD.

"A striking feature of the tasting is the emergence of more elegant and vibrant shiraz styles in Australia in a shift away from the high alcohol blockbusters of the past," Mr. Simic said. "The finesse of the HRB D637 makes it more food friendly and closer to traditional international syrah styles."

It was the 5th challenge organised by Winestate with an 18-strong panel of winemakers and masters of wine sampling 780 shiraz & syrah wines from Australia, New Zealand, France and South Africa. South Australia dominated the taste-off involving the highest ranked wines with seven in the top 10. The 2005 Penfolds Bin95 Grange was squeezed into fourth place by France's E.Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis Cote-Rotie. Winestate Magazine

The HRB wines return to their heritage through cross-regional blending of hand-selected parcels. The 2007 HRB Shiraz displays the muscle and power of McLaren Vale combined with the inky red fruits and mint of the Clare Valley It is an intense wine with many layers of flavours. It's a different blend than the 2006 and with the McLaren Vale component it is a bigger wine. It has also received higher ratings from the wine press than the highly sought after 2006 vintage. Constellation

Gold Medal - National Wine Show of Australia 2010
Gold Medal - Royal Sydney Wine Show 2010
Gold Medal - Royal Hobart Wine Show 2009
Gold Medal - Royal Perth Wine Show 2008

Bright purple-crimson; a very fine and elegant shiraz, its texture and structure guaranteeing a long life if you can keep your hands off it; supple black fruits have a dash of spice to add interest, oak balanced and integrated. Gold medal Sydney Wine Show '10. Screwcap. 13.9% alc. Rating 94 Points; Drink 2030 $39 Date Tasted Feb 10 James Halliday Wine Companion

There is no doubt that as a vintage 2006 was better than 2007 in most parts of South Australia. As ever there are exceptions and this is a great example of not only an excellent wine from 2007 but why the HRB concept is to be commended. For those unfamiliar, Hardys with HRB encourage cross-regional blending of hand-selected parcels with the aim of enhancing the character and quality of each. The Riesling for example combines both Clare and Tasmanian fruit, the Cabernet marries Coonawarra and Margaret River and the 2007 HRB is a blend of McLaren Vale and Clare Valley Shiraz. The resultant wine shows the opulent dark berries, chocolate and mocha that are found in McLaren Vale as well as a touch of mint and ripe spices of Clare. It is a generous wine with abundant fine grained on a long and savoury finish. One of the reds of the vintage. As you can imagine, an exercise of this nature would not come cheap which explains the $40 retail and cellar door price. At half of this, it moves into 'no brainer' territory. Drink: Now – 2020+; Quality: Excellent BW; WineStar© February 2011

The Hardys winemaking team reckons that these blends of regions shouldn’t work on paper, but do in the glass – so here they are. What a ripsnorter. It’s big and rich yet expansively structured. It combines the choc-mint flavours of the Clare Valley with the dark, chocolatey flavours of McLaren Vale shiraz. Mint, plums, musk, spice – great weight, great impact, great length. Smoothness. Tannin. Seriously good red. Rated : 94 Points Alcohol : 14% Price : $40 Closure : Cork Drink : 2012 - 2021; By Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

A long-ageing and well-assembled blend, this is an excellent expression of the violet aromatics and black- and redcurrant fruits of Coonawarra cabernet meeting the spice and blueberry flavours of McLaren Vale shiraz. Well-structured tannins call for a long rest in the cellar. 93 Points; Tyson Stelzer

A dark, rich purple colour. This delicious black Shiraz has hints of chocolate, menthol and tobacco leaf on the nose. Plums, blackcurrant and spice flavours abound on the palate and are perfectly balanced by fine, supple tannins.

This flagship wine made from the finest selection of Shiraz from each vintage is an opaque purple colour with dark purple hues. It shows superb aromas of a complex mix of violets, chocolate and cigar box lift. The 60% Langhorne Creek Shiraz in this year's wine, adds palate richness and chocolate/mocha characters on the nose. The palate is an explosion of flavour. Lashings of cassis, briary fruit flavours and spiced plum followed by back palate flavours of spice, liquorice and white pepper. Fine grained, soft tannins and perfect balance followed by a very long lingering finish with hints of blackberry and plum.

Director’s Cut Shiraz is a Langhorne Creek shiraz with a (5 percent) dollop of Limestone Coast shiraz. In the past it’s been matured in both French and American oak and while I don’t have the details to hand, it feels that way here too. It’s a blokey style of red with big, bold, black fruit flavour wedded to lashings of toasty, chocolatey, coffeed oak. You either love or loathe the style. It’s syrupy and sweet-fruited through the core, then warm and brandied as you swallow. You could stand the proverbial knife and fork up in this wine. You could argue that it’s an inelegant or caricatured style but on some nights, or in some crowds, it’s just the ticket. Rated : 92 Points Alcohol : 14.5% Price : $32 Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2012 - 2018 By Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

66% shiraz, 19% grenache 8% mourvèdre and 7% viognier grown in the Barossa. Viognier co-fermented with shiraz, grenache and mourvèdre vinified separately. Matured in older French hogsheads for 15 months prior to blending and bottling.

The shiraz, grenache, mourvèdre, viognier blend is a tribute to Henry Evans who planted the first vineyard of seven acres at Keyneton in 1853. He quickly developed a reputation for producing the best wines in the southern colony. Following Henry’s death in 1868 his widow Sarah exercised her temperance convictions by closing the winery and uprooting all the winegrapes. This blend highlights the historical introduction of southern French and Spanish varieties to South Australia in those early pioneering days and reflects the history, religion and culture of the Barossa.

Deep crimson in colour. Aromas of sweet, lifted, spicy blueberries, plums, blackberries, anise and mace, with stone-fruit and floral hints. Showing soft, rich and bright spicy peppery fruit on the palate. The texture is juicy and lush with layers of velvety tannins and great length.

Deep crimson. Leafy/matchstick/blackcurrant-pastille fruit with a touch of earth. Leafy blackcurrant-pastille fruit flavours with supporting oak, fine-grained tannins structure and good length. Difficult early drinking wine.  Andrew Caillard, Langtons 1998

Deep crimson. Intense chocolate/blackberry aromas with coffee/soy/meaty complexity. Very generous but powerfully structured palate with core of deepset blackberry fruit flavours, pronounced tannins, underlying savoury oak, finishing firm but with endless flavour length. Andrew Caillard, Langtons 2002

Now developing into a superbly elegant, aristocratic and precise reflection of the unique terroir of this great Australian vineyard and the widely under-rated 1996 vintage, it takes some breathing for this refined and ethereal shiraz to express the full extent of its rare charm and complexity. Dusty, floral, leathery aromas become more aromatic, peppery and spicy, while the palate builds its intensity and power, becoming superbly seamless, all the while presenting pristine flavours of blackberries, mulberries and cassis against a sweet, leathery background. 19.3, drink 2008-2016+. Jeremy Oliver; 97 Points

Sits on the right hand of Grange, equally deified, and now challenging its (Grange's) price; for a vintage such as 1996 no one is likely to complain. Deep red-purple; the bouquet is exceptionally rich and ripe (for the often reserved style) with lusciously sweet blackcurrant, blackberry and mint fruit cascading through to the palate. Rating 97 Points; Drink 2026 Date Tasted Oct 00 James Halliday

100% Shiraz aged 18 months in 100% new French and American oak, is not a blackbuster, but rather a surprisingly elegant, full-flavoured Shiraz offering notes of mocha, white chocolate, pepper, balckberry liqueur, and cassis. Fleshy and earthy, with outstanding purity, richness, and overall symmetry, it is a complex, more evolved example of this curvée. It should age nicely for another 12-15 years. Points: 93+ October 2005, Robert Parker, Wine Advocate

This is a luscious vintage of Hill of Grace. The oak is a little too assertive, and coconutty, for comfort but the lashings of cedar and cassis and blackberry jam are up to the task, the wave of flavour riding you all the way to a hill in the Eden Valley. The savoury finish does dry out a touch…but this vintage does deliver a good long stare at the legend. 93 points. December 2005, Winefront Monthly

A plush, smooth and densely flavoured shiraz whose slightly jammy expression of redcurrants, liqueur cherries, mulberries and cassis-like fruit reflects the exceptionally hot 2001 vintage. Its aromas reveal undertones of cedar and sweet leather, with coconut ice-like oak, while its palate presents a rich array of spicy fruit backed by dark chocolate oak influences. There’s a herbal edge beneath the fruit, while the savoury finish is just slightly attenuated and lacking definition. (Eden Valley, $383 ex cellar, 17.6/91, drink 2009-2013+) Jeremy Oliver, OnWine

The 2005 Hill of Grace is 100% Shiraz sourced from vines ranging in age from 57 to 149 years with the original planting in 1860. It was aged in 100% new French and American oak for 21 months. It is opaque purple/black with a spectacular bouquet of pain grille, pencil lead, truffle, lavender, anise, mulberry, and plum. Loaded on the palate and already complex, this sweetly-fruited wine is surprisingly elegant as well as powerful, the iron fist in the velvet glove. It has a finish lasting over 60 seconds and will offer a drinking window extending from 2015 to 2035. 98 Points; Jay Miller; Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate

Arguably the most anticipated release in recent times, this doesn't disappoint. Fragrant rose petal and Turkish delight notes ahead of deep-seated spice and earthy vineyard nuances. Blackberry and Satsuma plum flavours on the palate, a sweep of dark-spiced oak, rippling long through the finish. Archetypally perfect, this is a liquid national treasure with 40+ glorious years ahead. 99 Points; May 2009, Nick Stock, Wine 100

Captivating dark berries from great depths, subtle and sophisticated with alluring mocha cream layers spilling seductively into the mouth, then gently exploding fruits, fresh tweaks of raspberry creams, and a certain tira misu character that references its aromas over a submerged layer of oak, allowing space to reflect on its balance, elegance and harmony. Magnificent, one of the greats. 99 Points; April 2009, Tony Love, Adelaide Advertiser

Silky smooth and powerful, with multi-layers of complexity on the palate. The aromas are pure indulgence with a mix of primary plum fruits and blackberry nuances overlaid with spices, licorice and game. The palate has a soft, supple texture with fine, ripe, silky tannins. An effortlessly long palate that just floats on forever. Glorious. Good for 25 years in the cellars. 98 Points; May 2009, Ray Jordan, West Australian

This wine is revered around the world, and really needs no introduction. It has a fragrant and expressive bouquet of plum and blackberry fruit with a strong spicy overlay, with oak evident but not aggressive; the velvety, supple palate is laden with perfectly ripened black fruits and soft tannins in gentle support; has the hallmark seductive and elegant style of Hill of Grace. Screwcap. 14.5% alc. Rating: 96. Drink: to 2030. Price: $556 11-12 July 2009, James Halliday, The Weekend Australian

When the Hill of Grace vineyard was planted in the 1860s, Adelaide was only just over 20 years old – so when you drink Henschke Hill of Grace you are in some ways drinking the history of European settlement in Australia or at least in South Australia. This year’s release sure smells interesting. Oyster shells and baked bread, violets and crushed spice. It’s complex but not necessarily effusive, the need for extra time in the bottle paramount. The palate though is a boom. Glorious purity and condition. Plum jam, crushed violets, cedarwood and barrel smoke. Velvety texture. Like grabbing handfuls of fresh blueberries and boysenberries. Like drinking an Eden Valley summer. Tannin reaches nicely but not necessarily elaborately through the wine, and it finishes with an exotic aftertaste of soy and sesame. Hard to fault. Rated : 96 Points; Alcohol : 14.5%; Closure : Screwcap; Drink : 2015 - 2025; By Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

Open fermented, with header boards to keep the cap submerged, and matured in new French (70%) and American (30%) hogsheads from several coopers for 18 months, having completed the final stages of fermentation in barrel. Bright red-purple; highly fragrant spice, cedar, red and black berry aromas, oak evident but not excessive; it has a silky, velvety texture and mouthfeel to a beautifully balanced medium-bodied palate brimming with black fruits; wonderful length and finish. Surely one of the best Hill of Graces. Shiraz. Release July 2010. Screwcap, 14.5% alc; Rating: 97 points; Drink: to 2026; Price: $600; James Halliday; Weekend Australian

OK, it's not exactly a giveaway price but it deserves its place amoung the great wines of the world. Lovely spicy concentration of fruit with lifted aromas that are floral and pure. Palate is intense and very powerful with a silky smooth tannin and oak-infused texture. It has real power and concentration. It's lively, robust and showing great intensity. Wonderful balance and poise and a wine that will cellar for many years. The spicy characters and quite profound. Perfect with roast lamb on the weber. ($610). 97 Points; Ray Jordan, West Australian

A complex and lively rendition of Australia’s most famous single-vineyard wine, it makes a confident impression dressed in a mix of cedary French and sweeter-smelling American oak. There are plenty of red fruits on offer already, some pepper and the trademark five-spice complexity of the Church Block parcel, moving into earthy savoury elements borne of the leanersoiled components. The acidity stands up early on the palate and there is a sweep of dense, fleshy, dark-plum and blackberry fruit flavour through the middle, setting up a soft, rolling wave of tannins and a sturdily structured palate. Beautifully balanced, this will age slowly and profoundly. It’s still very much a wine in the making.  Nick Stock, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine

I never quite understood the Hill of Grace style, shrouded, as it was for some years, under a cloud of brettanomyces (barrel yeast infection). I had a return to Grace with the 2005 vintage, and its successor has confirmed it. This is a pure expression of Australia’s most famous single vineyard, with a bouquet that erupts with all manner of exotica – game, five spice, beef stock and black fruits. There is a mood of restrained power to the palate, as concentrated pepper, black plum and mulberry fruit rise and swoop. The mouth feel is silky and supple, riding on tannin texture resembling the finest plum skins, giving the wine an appealing approachability and at the same time great longevity. Amazing Grace. Vintage: 2006; Price: $610; Points: 96; Alcohol: 14.5%; Region: Eden Valley; Tasted: April 2010; Closure: Screw cap; Tyson Stelzer, Clear About Wine

So what’s it like then, this most expensive of all new release Australian wines? There’s plenty of tasteful malty nutty oak, a little minty fragrance, spice and pepper with rich black and blue fruits. It’s full bodied with a slippery seductive texture - the tannins super fine but fully supportive of the rich fruit. Savoury oak shows a firm hand at this early stage, but is in harmony. I noted a slight saltiness and warmth too, but not as negatives. Combines intensity and abundant flavour without being heavy or leaden. Superb long peppery finish. It’s surprisingly approachable now, and with a good decant will make a satisfying drink for the rich and/or hasty, although obviously its best days are ahead of it. Rated : 96 Points; Tasted : Mar10; Alcohol : 14.5%; Price : $610; Closure : Screwcap; Drink : 2016 - 2026+ Gary Walsh; The Wine Front

The Mount Edelstone vineyard, situated in the Eden Valley, was planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, a descendant of George Fife Angas, who founded South Australia. Unusual for its time, the vineyard was planted solely to shiraz in ancient 55 million-year-old soils which are deep red-brown clay-loam to clay, resulting in low yields from nearly 96-year-old dry-grown ungrafted vines. First bottled as a single-vineyard wine in 1952, it became recognised as one of Australia’s greatest shiraz wines. 100% 90-year-old-vine shiraz grown in the Eden Valley wine region. Matured in 90% new, 10% seasoned French (67%) and American (33%) hogsheads for 21 months prior to blending and bottling.

The 2008 vintage in Eden Valley was preceded by an average rainfall and a mild and unusually frost-free spring with regular rainfall periods. Fine flowering weather meant good set despite the expectation that the previous drought year of 2007 would affect yields. The vines also showed surprisingly vigorous growth. A dry and hotter than average early summer caused smaller berry and bunch size. Although temperatures climbed to over 40C around New Year and in mid-February, the weather from mid-January through February was the coolest for 30 years, allowing amazing development of fruit colour, flavor and maturity.

In early March South Australia suffered an unprecedented record heat wave of 15 days over 35C. The unexpected searing heat seemed never-ending and resulted in stressed vines, significant leaf drop, escalated sugar levels in the fruit and significant shrivel. A cool change followed, which brought relief; however it was too late for fruit still hanging, which had literally cooked on the vine. Selective early morning handpicking, leaving shriveled fruit on the vines, gave the best quality, resulting in some amazing intensely coloured and flavoured reds, in particular shiraz. It was an easy season to practice organic viticulture and a season that demanded biodynamics to keep the vines healthy. Deep red with violet hues. Rich aromas of spicy plums, blackberries, anise and sage oil with hints of tar, pepper and cedar. The intensely fruited palate is concentrated, rich and lush with excellent balance, velvety tannins and a long finish. Great vintage, 15+ years; Notes from Henschke

Good, strong colour; the cooler climate of the Eden Valley was a godsend in ’08, the old vines also doing their share in producing a Mount Edelstone to stand tall with its layers of fruit, nuances of spice and licorice, and excellent ripe tannins. Shiraz. Drink by: 2030; Date tasted: 09/Mar/2011; Price: $104.50; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 95 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion