Russell Crowe lends star power to release of Henschke’s 2015 Hill of Grace wine vintage
The highly anticipated 2015 Hill of Grace has been released, with some assistance from Russell Crowe. So does the shiraz live up to the $865 price tag?
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As Australian wine goes, few are as revered as Henschke’s Hill of Grace and the latest vintage even has Russell Crowe intoning his praise for the work of the Eden Valley winemakers and their world-famous drop, with the actor narrating a video that has been specially created to mark the release.
“We reached out to Russell Crowe through a family connection, another family also impacted by the recent bushfires, to see if he would be open to working with us,” said Justine Henschke. “We would like to thank Russell for graciously providing his voice.”
At $865 a bottle, the 2015 Hill of Grace is one for serious wine collectors and consumers.
Ahead of today’s release of the single-vineyard shiraz, it is already turning heads, earning a perfect 100-point score from wine critic and Tasting Australia beverage director Nick Stock.
The jewel in Henschke’s Eden Valley crown is a triumph and cause for celebration after a challenging year.
“It is encouraging when you’re feeling so down after struggling through what we’ve been through,” fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke said.
“It’s a lovely reminder of 2015, a vintage that was described as the ‘Goldilocks vintage’ because everything was just right.
“We had the perfect winter, spring, summer and autumn period in terms of the physiology of the vines, their health and the natural ripening of the vines to make beautiful wine,” Mr Henschke said.
It’s a far cry from the tumultuous 12 months the Henschkes have endured.
In December, the family lost 90 per cent of their 25ha Lenswood vineyard during the Cudlee Creek bushfire.
The 2015 Hill of Grace, made using hand-plucked fruit from the vineyard of the same name, is heartening.
“We describe this vintage as, ‘graced by the luminous moon’ because every year Hill of Grace is picked at Easter.”
This year, weather conditions across the Barossa and Eden Valley meant that fruit yield was down, and after the global coronavirus pandemic, Henschke’s impressive cellar door (located in the stone building built by Johann Christian Henschke during the 1860s) was forced to temporarily close its doors to visitors.
The warm reception to the release of the 2015 Hill of Grace, made using hand plucked fruit from the vineyard of the same name, is heartening. The original Ancestor vines are more than 160 years old and for viticulturist Prue Henschke, the wine is a symbol of patience and Mother Nature’s natural cycles.
Harvesting close to the full moon, as the Henschkes do, sounds gloriously romantic, but after six generations of history there’s research and decades of experience behind the family’s lunar-driven approach.
“Old vines don’t just give you wine, they give you a story,” Mr Henschke said. “As the wine opens up you see more and more pages of that story.”
And what a tale it is. The Hill Of Grace story dates back to the early settlement of South Australia. When Johann Christian Henschke arrived in the region from Silesia more than 175 years ago he wasted no time building his farm and his family’s future on the rich Eden Valley soil. Nicolaus Stanitzki planted the original Hill of Grace vineyard in around 1860.
The location, overlooked by Parrot Hill’s Gnadenberg Lutheran Church, is stunning. When the vineyard founder’s granddaughter Johanne Ida Selma Stanitzki married third-generation Paul Alfred Henschke, worlds collided. Back then, the fruit was traded for goods and services with other with other local families. “The grapes were probably sold to my great grandfather or to my grandfather and made as a village wine,” Mr Henschke said.
The fruit was used for village wine for 100 years until Cyril Henschke (Stephen’s father) saw potential in the old vineyard. Cyril made the first Hill of Grace in 1958.
The name comes from the translation of German term ‘Gnadenberg’ to ‘Hill of Grace’.
“It was such a beautiful name that people came to my father to buy the Hill of Grace,” Mr Henschke said.
“Boxes of it in those days. They’d stick it in the back of their old model T-Fords and chug off down the road.”
Now, the winemaking responsibility lies in Stephen’s capable hands. His wife Prue tends the precious vines.
“In the seven hectares it covers there are a lot of soil types,” she said. “I think that’s what gives us the ability to really build up a beautiful complex wine. It is testament to that site.” The wine is a labour of love, history and authenticity.
“People think expensive shiraz has to be big – like boxing gloves - but this wine is just so elegant, fine, pure, but complex,” Mr Henschke said.
It is also a reminder that Mother Nature dictates us, and as challenging as some vintages are, you never know when perfection is around the corner.
“I look forward to the next perfect vintage.”
Other new releases include the 2018 Innes Vineyard Pinot Gris, 2018 Giles Pinot Noir, 2017 Johann’s Garden Grenache Mataro, 2018 Henry’s Seven, 2015 Marble Angel Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017 Tappa Pass Shiraz, and the stunning 2016 Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon (named after Stephen’s father).
As for 2020, quality is high. “The rieslings in particular look fantastic,” Mr Henschke said. “The fragrance is wonderful. They are incredibly aromatic wines this year – there’s just not much of them.”
HENSCHKE
2015 / Hill of Grace
Eden Valley
Ah, the unmistakeable whiff of history. The kind that lingers in a tome’s well-flicked pages, soothes the soul like a Gnadenberg Lutheran Church organ recital, and evokes emotion like a hot-air balloon above ancient Eden Valley vines. Five spice, tobacco, mahogany and charcuterie aromas precede pure fruit flavours, rich dark red berries, and silk sheet tannins. Stephen and Prue Henschke have orchestrated a shiraz that is both exotic and comforting; like the embrace of a loved one returned from faraway lands. With just five years under its belt, it’s drinking exceptionally well. Smooth, proud, layered, evocative and perfectly executed. Take a bow Mother Nature, you can be cruel but in moments like this, so very kind. Exquisite. Dig deep, it’s worth the $865 price tag. History like this doesn’t come cheap.
- Katie Spain