Henschke Hill Of Grace 2022

99 POINTS

Ray Jordan - Winepilot

May well be the prettiest Hill of Grace yet released. May also be the best, and that’s saying something. I thought 2021 was the greatest yet, then came 2022. Doesn’t have the raw power and luxurious opulence of the ’21, yet this might be a case of less is more.  The depth and intensity of fruit that comes from vines that were planted in the 1860s is undeniable, but it’s all harnessed and focused into an effortless, long, and most graceful structure. There’s a distinct combination of black olive and bay leaf with a lift of sage bush. The palate is immensely powerful and intense with a focused concentration of fruit. As it opens up, other sweet fruit characters emerge. There’s a little seaweed and subtle fish oil-like characters.  Perfumed and floral with blackberry and blueberry notes. It’s still relatively tight with fine-grained tannins. There is almost no new oak in the 100% seasoned French oak hogsheads, where it spent 20 months.

99 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2022 Hill of Grace Shiraz leads with dark fruit and an abundance of exotic spice to match. The tannins are profuse here, quite distinct from the Hill of Roses tasted alongside. Star anise, cloves, cinnamon (cassia), fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper weave in and out of the blackberry, blueberry, crushed quartz/ferrous undertones. There's a sweet rolling-tobacco character that is highly attractive and lingers through the finish. I love the 2022 vintage. It is fresh and detailed. It may forever live in the shadow of the great 2021 vintage, but not for me—I believe firmly this is a sleeper vintage and will reveal its longevity given time. The allure of it now is not in question, either. According to Henschke: "Hill of Grace is produced from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe in the mid-1800s. The original vines were planted around 1860 by ancestor Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just northwest of the Henschke family winery. The vineyard comprises red-brown earth grading to deep silty loam and has excellent moisture-holding capacity for these old Shiraz vines. Hill of Grace is a unique, delineated, historic site that lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran church, which is named after a region in Silesia known as Gnadenberg, translating to 'Hill of Grace.'" This was not produced in 1960, 1974, 2000 and 2011. AUD RRP $1,100.

98 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

A wine that needs little introduction — but one that always rewards a closer look. Sourced from pre-phylloxera Shiraz vines planted on Henschke’s Hill of Grace Vineyard in the Eden Valley — cuttings carried from Europe in the mid-1800s, now farmed organically and biodynamically — and aged twenty months in seasoned French oak hogsheads before bottling. Fragrant and bright yet carrying great depth and complexity. Star anise, nutmeg, clove-studded orange, crushed violets, blackberry and blueberry lead, with sage to follow — the cut of five spice bouncing around with the fruit and floral tones. The depth of flavour is immediate on the palate; deep but not weighty, with excellent balance, intensity and vibrancy at this young age. Blackberry, blueberry and savoury notes echo the nose, while an incredible, blue-fruited acidity shoots through the finish and beautifully integrated tannins permeate with sprawl and assuredness. Remarkable length — a wine of savoury complexity intermingling with fruit of the highest order. What’s in a name? Quite a lot, it seems — here we have a Hill of Grace very much imbued with the latter. Sexy, silky and complete.

98 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

At the outset, I’ll confess that I have not scored this vintage of Hill of Grace quite as highly as I have many of the recent releases (in fairness, we are talking wafer-thin margins at the very highest levels). That is not because I think it is any less of a wine, quite the contrary, but because at the moment I think it is so tight, coiled and reticent that it simply will not give of itself what it can and what it will. In ten or twenty or even thirty years, I have not the least doubt that it will sit comfortably with any recent release, even the glorious 2021 vintage. The wine is, of course, from that famous patch of ancient vines in the Hill of Grace vineyard in the Eden Valley which was planted around 1860. Maturation is in older French oak hogsheads for twenty months. It is, as ever, an astonishing achievement. A purple/maroon hue with a hint of the haze of the Blue Mountains. The nose offers notes of black fruits, chocolate, florals, smoked meats, cloves, licorice, black olives, mocha and coffee beans. A wine that is generous, still obviously very youthful, and with serious concentration. On the palate, we see the emergence of notes of blueberries and the herb garden nature of the wine. There is immaculate balance and extraordinary length through to firm, very fine tannins on a lingering finish. The wine is perhaps marginally more savoury than it appears in some years. There is good energy here and underlying power which suggests that leaving the wine alone for the next five to eight years would be in everyone’s interests, before drinking it over the following thirty to fifty, if you think you’ll be around that long.

98 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

Australia's finest and most famous single-site shiraz. Incredible ancestor vines of 160 years of age are the heart of the wine, with additions of centenarian (100-plus years), survivor (70-plus years) and old-vine (35-plus years) shiraz; matured in seasoned French oak for 20 months. It's the aromatic detail, texture and elegance that immediately stands out with the Hill of Grace. Pure satsuma plum, blackberry and black cherry fruits with hints of bay leaf, mace, sage, Chinese five-spice, panforte, cedar, tapenade, black pepper, pan juices, graphite, dried meats and purple floral tones. The amplitude of this wine always amazes me. Everything just resonates perfectly; fruit, tannin and acidity are all in harmony and the arc across the palate is perfectly timed. Stunning.

97 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

“Hill of Grace is produced from pre-phylloxera (vine) material brought from Europe in the mid-1800s. The original vines were planted around 1860 by ancestor Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just north-west of the Henschke family winery.” 2022 was a modest crop; production is just over half of what was produced from 2021. Magical wine. Intense, boysenberry and saturated plums, sweet spice and peppercorns, a long swagger of almost-grainy tannin, a lot of muscle and flex but a lot of perfume and ripe/sweet berry flavour too. The fruit here, almost musky, pushes deep and long through the palate, a parade of flavours draped and flying in its wake. This will cellar for decades. This is a ripper. It’s bold and fresh and aromatic and screen-printed with tannin. I can barely imagine a more perfect Hill of Grace Shiraz.