Henschke Mount Edelstone Eden Valley Shiraz 2015

A strong contender for the title of Australia’s greatest winery, the Henschke family have been making wine at their estate in the Eden Valley since 1868. Fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke took over running the winery in 1979. Together with his viticulturist wife Prue, they have taken their two single vineyards, Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone, and transformed them into two of Australia’s most sought-after wines, moving to biodynamic viticulture on the way. The 16 hectare Mount Edelstone vineyard, situated at 400 metres above sea level in the Eden Valley, was planted in 1912. Unusual for its time, only Shiraz was planted. The ancient 500 million-year-old soils are deep red-brown clay-loam to clay, resulting in low yields from over 100 year-old dry-farmed, ungrafted centenarian vines. The wine matured for 18 months in 78% French and 22% American oak (22% new and 78% seasoned) hogshead barrels before assemblage and bottling, with the wine remaining in bottle for two years before its release.