Henschke Mt Edelstone Shiraz 1973-2002

[Grant]

Henschke Mt Edelstone Vertical 1973 - 2002


It was a real treat on the weekend to sit down to an 8 vintage vertical of one of AustraliaÂ’s most storied wines, the Henschke Mt Edelstone Shiraz. Not just any old selection either, but arguably every great vintage produced in the period 1973 - 2002, excepting the 1998, which has had something of a variable reputation of late. Nonetheless, it was an outstanding tasting, led with passion and precision by both Stephen and Prue Henschke.

The Mt Edelstone vineyard was first planted in 1912, in the dryer part of the Eden Valley. For the first 50 years of its life the grapes produced were used in making fortifiedÂ’s, as was the style of the day and of the country. Dry table wine was something of an anomaly, and unfortunately the cooler clime of the Eden Valley was also not particularly well suited to making great fortified wine. In 1966, Cyril Henschke decided to bite the bullet and make a dry table red from the vineyard, sensing that there was something of a shift in sentiment beginning. The wine was a huge success, winning nearly every trophy in the land in its first year on show, and a legend was born.

What the tasting showed was that there is a remarkable consistency in this wine, and despite the gradual rise in alcohol levels over the decades the style remains quite true to its origins. True, we only looked at the better vintages to draw such a conclusion, but they were all what they should have been in terms of quality, and nothing less.

Also impressive is the continued drive and quest for excellence of the part of the Henschke’s. Moves towards organic and bio-dynamic viticulture, the gradual conversion of the vineyard to Scott-Henry trellising ( now 50% completed) and a commitment to minimal racking of the wine shows that they are not resting on their laurels. The cloud associated with the nasty “B” word (brett) seems to have blown away now, and the 2001 and 2002 wines showed no evidence of that character.

Now to the wines,

1973- A lovely, mature brick red, leathery, soft, refined, a savoury style, aged in old wood. A lovely wine from what was a very good vintage in the Eden Valley,a dry, warm year. Alcohol weighs in at 13%, a number that was historically high for the wine, previous vintages had all been in the 12Â’s.

1979- Corked. No, seriously the whole room was corked. For a room of 50 or so people, they couldnÂ’t find any bottles that werenÂ’t corked, so they just poured them anyway, and then Stephen Henschke told us in no uncertain terms just why he had moved on from tree bark as a closure. Enough said.

1986- Probably the most revered Mt Edelstone, and looking superb at nearly twenty years of age. Still quite dark at the core, browning a touch at the rim, with a soft, lifted, subtly spicy nose showing leather, earth and tobacco notes. So composed in the mouth, with lovely red and black fruit flavours laced with roast spice. An outstanding wine, and you knew it.

1990- As good as the 86 was, I thought this was better. Plums, anise, tobacco, leather, spice and pepper, an evocative nose. The veritable peacocks tail arrives in the mouth, an explosive, expansive wine with spice and power on the palate and a balanced, impeccable finish. Huge yield of 4 tonnes per acre for the vineyard, Stephen Henschke feels that the wine could have been even better with more control in the vineyard. However, this does not change the fact that it is a classic wine.

1994- Dark, closed, a long term wine. Very primary in nature, little sign of aging with the still primary fruit dominating. Amazingly backward, even the 96 already looks older. Will continue to evolve slowly over the next two decades. A long term keeper.

1996- Tobacco and leather and undergrowth/barnyard notes , showing more development than its more repressed older brother (94) Here the change in trend starts to take effect, with the alcohol giving a touch of warmth to the finish. Stehen Henschke describes it as a picture book vintage. Interestingly, he sees 94, 99 and 2002 as quite similar vintages to each other, with the unusual companionship of high ripeness ,high acid and low ph setting the tone.

2001-Riper, sweeter on the nose, more lifted confectionary characters and vanilla oak showing on this still very young wine. An explanation of the oak use and how they see the specific effect of different forests on the final wine also ensued with this vintage, with Stephen saying that he felt Allier oak added a mintiness to the fruit, while Vosge oak bought nutty aroma‘s and flavours. A lot of thought goes into these things! Anyway, this is a ripe and spicy number from one of the hottest years, showing very deep colours. Needs time at the moment.

2002- A lighter more floral nose, violets, even a hint of mint, but with very deep colours for what was seen as a cool year, liquorice, sweet dark spice. Described as an Indian summer, the vintage had miniscule yields, and contradictory to usual expectations, high alcohol, though not purely by design. The first year of 100% screwcap seals. Bravo. By the way, this wine looks great, not sure if it will be a thirty year prospect but a lot of people are going to enjoy drinking it. Classic Henschke, classic Mt Edelstone.


Very enjoyable. As for a ranking, my order of enjoyment would be 1990, 1986, 2002, 1996,1994,2001 and who knows what the 1979 would be like? At least from now on, we( the drinkers) and they (the HenschkeÂ’s) wonÂ’t have to worry about facing such a ridiculous situation ever again. A great tasting. Cheers.

[Maximus]

Grant,

Thanks for the notes - I'm typing this post up with my face cast in a very bright shade of green. Was this the Masterclass held in Brisbane? I was bitterly disappointed that I couldn't attend, the cost of flights, timing and the show itself making the venture prohibitive. I tried the '02 on my recent holiday back home and found it intense, I think this wine has a massive life ahead of it and don't think it should be touched for 5-10 years. I actually prefer the '01 right now, far more forward and approachable in its youth when compared to the younger sibling.

Was there any discussion of HoG, and the fact that they've skipped the 2000 vintage for this wine? I'm intrigued to know whether they make wine with the 'insufficient standard' grapes or if they sell it off.

Cheers,

[JamieBahrain]

Thanks Grant

Why no 1998? It was rated as exceptional by Stephen Henschke.


Max

I think you may find 2000 HofG went into 2000 MtEd! Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Grant]

Max,

It was the Hilton Masterclass, very good too. Other tastings included a vertical of Bonneau du Martray, a Bordeaux vs Australia Cabernet Tasting, Napa Cabernet vs Aust Shiraz and a look at the wines of Isole e Olena, including Cepparello.

There wasn't really enough time to get around to discussing HOG, the hour went very quickly and there was barely enough time to cover the 8 wines in front of us.

Jamie,

No idea why the 98 wasn't shown. It was a pretty good line up nonetheless.


Cheers

[n4sir]

2002- A lighter more floral nose, violets, even a hint of mint, but with very deep colours for what was seen as a cool year, liquorice, sweet dark spice. Described as an Indian summer, the vintage had miniscule yields, and contradictory to usual expectations, high alcohol, though not purely by design. The first year of 100% screwcap seals. Bravo. By the way, this wine looks great, not sure if it will be a thirty year prospect but a lot of people are going to enjoy drinking it. Classic Henschke, classic Mt Edelstone.

I really enjoyed this up at Henschke a few weeks ago - no real discernable oak, complex characters already, and the alcohol was well enveloped within that massive structure.

This would be my pick of the wines of the whole Barossa trip last month, so why didn't I buy any? Only 10% (not 100%) were bottled under screwcap, and while the tasting wines at CD were under screw, what you could actually buy was only under cork!

Cheers
Ian

[Grant]

Ian,

I must have got that wrong(Screwcap). Maybe he was referring to the fact that it is now 100% screwcap? My frantic and pedestrian typing has let me down again!

Have you had the chance to see the 2002 Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz? Seriously impressive, and from Eden Valley fruit, right next door to Mt Edelstone. Pricey, but a real benchmark for Wolf Blass, the best wine i've ever tasted under that label.

Cheers

[Maximus]

Thanks Grant

Why no 1998? It was rated as exceptional by Stephen Henschke.


Max

I think you may find 2000 HofG went into 2000 MtEd! Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Jamie,

2000 HoG in 2000 Mt Ed! Giddiup! I have a bottle sitting wanton on my wine rack too...

Re vintages, according to the Henschke vintage charts 1998 was only classed as 'excellent' as opposed to exceptional for Mt Ed (and Keyneton and Abbotts). I also believe Prue is performing some research on wine colour and its link to the wine quality - with the '94, '99 and '02 all similar and regarded as special years (as mentioned by Grant above). I think the '99 will be an earlier peaker than the other two and although it's still very young, it's certainly drinking wonderfully right now.

Cheers,

[JamieBahrain]

I had a bottle of 98 Mt Ed tonight. I can now understand why it wasn't in the line up!

[Grant]

I had a bottle of 98 Mt Ed tonight. I can now understand why it wasn't in the line up!

Horse?

[JamieBahrain]

Grant

Horsey notes weren't over the top on the haunting, atypical Henschke old vine nose. But it did come through a bit more prominantly on the palate, which due it's relatively underweight nature, needed all the help it could get. A nice wine, a touch forward and on this example, probably not going anywhere.