Henschke Julius Riesling 2025

95 POINTS

Tony Love - Winepilot

Sourced from the Henschke family’s own Eden Valley vineyard plus a few selected grower blocks across the region, there’s a more mineralled layer to the aromatics in this iteration compared to its more lime-fruit focused sibling, the Peggy’s Hill Riesling. The Julius also leans more to lemon than lime on the citrus flavour scale, is tighter in the palate, acidity notching more bite in its mouthwatering finish. Worth stocking a few in the cellar for a decade to watch that Eden Valley mature-age Riesling magic to unfold. Or drink it now with the best prawns and crayfish you can find.

95 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

The immediacy of this wine’s depth is what’s striking straight off. It’s floral and refined with a sense of brimming complexity wanting to cascade. Sweet jasmine flower, chamomile, Makrut lime, tonic water and lemongrass lead before an unfurling of steely minerality, peach skin, kumquat and melon. Further air reveals allusions of potpourri that never quite pop, along with glimmers of dehydrated lime and a saline, preserved-citrus edge. There’s a loose-knit feel to the palate in that it coats the mouth with flavour, but it’s remarkably tensile and bright. Lime pulp, steely minerality, honeydew melon and bitter lemon peel make up the core while notes of jasmine and kumquat dance around the edges. It’s all pulled into linearity by tight lines of citrusy acid and chalky grip to good length. Quite delicious now, but there’s a story to unfold with this wine over decades in the cellar for those inclined.

95 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

A flagship Riesling from an excellent Eden Valley vintage, this is pale lemon in colour. Attractively fresh on the nose, we have notes of lemons and limes, florals, spices, oystershells, white peaches and a line of minerally support running the full journey. There is immaculate balance here, the wine is seamless throughout and exhibiting a laser-like focus. Fine, citrusy acidity runs the full length, and what impressive length that is. A wine which will see fifteen to twenty years, continuing to improve and develop throughout, with ease.

95 POINTS

Jeni Port - Winepilot

Brings some cracking acidity to concentrated lemon-lime citrus Riesling fruit and the result is quite startling and perky. There is an impressive, driving acidity – brisk, busy and racy – which filters through every moment the wine is on the tongue. In keeping with its Eden Valley origin, the apple blossom, honeysuckle florals are inviting and in harmony with green apple, grapefruit pith, lemons and limes, bath salts, saline and flinty, wet rock minerals.  The palate is crisp and moves at a clip before finishing on a long, attractive floral note. And, as always, Julius Riesling is a keeper, a wine that can only – and most definitely, does – improve with time.

95 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2025 Julius Riesling leads with an ultra pretty nose of pressed flowers, crushed quartz, white beach sand and loads of fruit that firmly places on the white end of the spectrum. In the mouth, the wine is tight and saline, with sleek, closed phenolics and persistent acidity through the long finish. This is a great wine in almost any season, which come as a surprise to no one who follows the viticultural philosophy of Pru Henschke. 11.7% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

93 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

Beeswax, jasmine petals and honey-flecked apple—with something more mineral at the core—commence this delicate, somewhat shy Eden Valley Riesling from one of South Australia's oldest family producers. It's bone dry with racy acidity, a gently slippery palate, and quiet length and drive. Still very young and therefore somewhat austere, it should last the ages.