Henschke is releasing its highly anticipated 2021 single-vineyard wines this May

Eden Valley’s legendary Henschke winery has just announced that its single-vineyard wines from the 2021 vintage will be released on Wednesday 7 May, 2025. 

This highly anticipated collection includes the iconic Hill of Grace Shiraz (99 points), as well as its Hill of Roses Shiraz (97 points), Mount Edelstone Shiraz (98 points), The Wheelwright Shiraz (95 points) and Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon (96 points).

Those who closely follow Henschke’s annual single-vineyard releases might notice that the team has skipped a vintage – 2020. Unfortunately, because the 2020 yields were so small (roughly 70 per cent below average), this vintage will be held back and released as part of its Museum and Rare Program instead.

But the team praises 2021 for being an exceptional year for its vineyards – good winter rains, and mild spring, summer, and autumn temperatures. This has helped them make wines that can be sold a little earlier than usual.

The Hill of Grace vines were planted in 1860.

Fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke notes how “the 2021 vintage will be considered a standout of the decade; remembered for complex wines with exceptional varietal expression, balance and purity, that speak of the ancient land from which they originate.

With a likeness to the high-quality vintages of 1986, 2002, 2005, and 2015, all of which were mild seasons, the 2021 single-vineyard wines show impressive potential for long-term ageing in ideal cellaring conditions.”

Each of these newly released wines is of top quality, but the Hill of Grace Shiraz is Henschke’s most iconic – this year receiving a score of 99 points from Dave Brookes.

Much of this comes down to the incredibly old vines. Stephen shared, “Hill of Grace is a unique single vineyard, with the original shiraz vines planted around 1860 by my grandmother’s grandfather Nicolaus Stanitzki.

“The low-yielding old shiraz vines produce fruit with excellent deep crimson colour, anise and five spice exotic aromas, dark berry fruit flavours, exceptional concentration, elegance and long velvety tannins.”

And these very old vines are cared for by viticulturist, botanist, environmentalist and inaugural inductee to the Halliday Hall of Fame, Prue Henschke.

Prue and Stephen Henschke work in tandem out in the vineyards .

Of Prue’s organic and biodynamic practices, Stephen says: “Prue has selected local native grass species and native flowering plants, such as lomandra (native lily) and bursaria spinosa (sweet bursaria), which she has planted in and around the vineyard to provide an ecosystem service, attracting thousands of beneficial native flying insects.

“The grasses are mown, rather than the vineyard soil being worked up, and then she has spread biodynamic compost under the vines, which consists of recycled winery grape skins and stalk waste composted with cow manure, lime, organic green-waste and straw, with biodynamic preparations added.”

Speaking to future Henschke endeavours, he adds that "Prue and her team – at our Lenswood vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, which was devastated by the 2019 Cuddlee Creek Bushfire – have brought the vines back to near full production for the 2025 vintage. It will be exciting to have our Lenswood Croft Chardonnay, Giles Pinot Noir and Abbotts Prayer Merlot available again.

"Prue has also planted some other fascinating varieties at Eden Valley, including nebbiolo, barbera and tempranillo, and carignan, grenache gris, counoise, clairette, cinsault, picpoul and marsanne at our Home Gardens vineyard in Keyneton."

There's plenty coming up here, but for now, you can find the detailed tasting notes for each of the 2021 single-vineyard wines below. 

2021 Hill of Grace Shiraz

This release will go down in the annals of Australian fine wine as one of the classic releases for Hill of Grace. With a strong vintage and even stronger pedigree, the gnarled old, circa 1860s-planted, shiraz vines have really come up with the goods with this release and as I sit to taste this wine with Stephen Henschke he shakes his head and says, "it just amazes me that my grandmother's grandfather planted these vines". The eagle-eyed will notice a skip in vintage. The yields were down horribly in 2020 across all the Henschke vineyards but man, did 2021 deliver. Super bright magenta/crimson in the glass with a wonderfully deep aromatic profile. Doris plum, blackberry and black cherry with hints of mace, sage, panforte, cedar, dark chocolate, tapenade, pepper, charcuterie, graphite, crushed quartz and violets. From the aromatic detail to the amplitude, purity and flow of fruit, the wine is absolutely on song with stunning length of flavour and presence on the palate, sailing away slowly with tight, fine-grained tannins and the most graceful of travels on the palate. An absolute classic for this wine. – Halliday Wine Companion, Dave Brookes, 99 points

RRP $1000 | Drink to 2054

2021 Hill of Roses Shiraz

100% shiraz from 32-year-old vines of one single block at the stellar Hill of Grace vineyard in Eden Valley, matured for 18 months in seasoned French oak. This release sees the 20-year anniversary of this wine and what a cracking vintage to celebrate the milestone. Super bright magenta/crimson in the glass with a distinct sense of clarity and lift to the aromatic profile. Pure satsuma plum, red and dark cherry and some lovely raspberry pip lift with hints of fine spice, mace, star anise, panforte, dark chocolate, violets and earth. A wonderful and enveloping expression of pure dark and black fruits on the palate; graceful, sleek and perfectly poised, set to a backdrop of cascading powdery tannins and a bright mineral cadence. An excellent release. – Halliday Wine Companion, Dave Brookes, 97 points

RRP $485 | Drink to 2052

2021 Mount Edelstone Shiraz

I used to live next door to this 109-year-old vineyard for nearly a decade and have seen the hard work and attention to detail that goes into its farming. The 2021 is an absolute stunner from a great vintage and I've no doubt that this will age gracefully for decades. The length of flavour with this release is quite something; the fruit is sleek, plush and on-point pure. Blackberry, Doris plum and black cherry layer with spice and hints of sage, bay leaf, pepper, olive tapenade, anise, violets and stone. Velvety and graceful in its flow on the palate with a fresh mineral cadence and superfine, powdered granitic tannins for support. It'll go down as one of the greats. – Halliday Wine Companion, Dave Brookes, 98 points

RRP $275 | Drink to 2054

2021 The Wheelwright Shiraz

100% organic/biodynamically farmed shiraz from the Wheelwright vineyard in the Eden Valley, planted by Cyril Henschke in the 1960s. Deep crimson with plush satsuma plum, black cherry and blackcurrant fruits underscored with hints of fine spice, sage, coal dust, cedar, violets, dark chocolate and crushed stone. I really like the flow of fruit in the Wheelwright this year; plush yet graceful with fine, compact tannins providing ample structure for cellaring. – Halliday Wine Companion, Dave Brookes, 95 points

RRP $160 | Drink to 2044

2021 Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon

A blend of organic/biodynamically farmed 99/1% cabernet sauvignon/merlot from the Cyril Henschke vineyard in the Eden Valley from the outstanding 2021 vintage. A beautiful bright magenta/crimson in the glass with a pretty, lifted aromatic profile. Plum, blackberry and blackcurrant with notes of sage, bay leaf, dried herbs, violets and crushed stone. Fruit pure and detailed with a very long, graceful finish and superfine, powdery, granitic tannins. A wonderful release for the Cyril Henschke. – Halliday Wine Companion, Dave Brookes, 96 points

RRP $195 | Drink to 2048

The 2021 single-vineyard wines will be available through Henschke, fine wine retailers and restaurants from Wednesday May 7, 2025. For more information you can visit henschke.com.au.

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Image credit: Mitchelton.