This has intense spice and sage, as well as bay-leaf aromas with intense, vivid blackberries and red plums. Blueberry notes, too. There’s so much spice, violet and bergamot, together with black tea-like notes. The palate has an immaculately framed tannin structure with rich blackberries and blueberries, as well as plum notes. This layers up so nicely on the palate. Very intense and powerful yet fine texture. An exceptional vintage for Mt. Edelstone. From vines planted in 1912. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
Powerful but unobtrusive tannins – like an engine purring – support dark, perfectly ripe blackberry, mulberry and plum fruit, with hints of strawberry, red fruit leather and smoked charcuterie notes from the oak. Spice and dried herb nuances unfurl over three days, beautifully articulating the terroir and its 104-year-old vines through notes of black pepper, sage, tea tree, star anise, mint and cardamom. Ripe and refreshing redcurrant sustains the sweet, spiced fruit through the long, sinuous finish. Terrific purity, poise and panache. Released at £137. Drinking Window 2021 - 2041.
The 2016 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz leads with pastille and cassis, blackberry, mulberry and raspberry. It is powerfully fruit-driven, bolstered by a flow of abundant tannin. While this remains true to its savory profile, the core of fruit here is sweet and polished. I like/appreciate the interplay between the acidity and the tannins here. This is a very smart wine indeed. It has a pH of 3.48, 6.57 grams per liter of total acidity and 14.5% alcohol.
According to Henschke: "Below-average winter rainfall was followed by a warm and dry spring, enhancing flowering and fruit set to give high yield potential. Low disease pressure was maintained by one of the hottest Decembers on record, although temperatures cooled down in the New Year, and rainfall in late January and early March eased stress. The fruit matured with an earlier harvest, as predicted due to an early Easter, and overall was characterized by average yields but very high quality."
#33 TOP 100 CELLAR SELECTIONS 2022. Mount Edelstone may not get the glory Hill of Grace receives, but its place in Barossa history as a 110-year-old vineyard and the quality of resulting wines is no less illustrious. The '16 is a deep well of aromas from ripe cherry to wild strawberry; from licorice to cracked pepper; from violet to vanilla bean. After the heady perfume, the power on the palate comes almost as a surprise. The concentrated fruit is held in a firm grip of spicy, fine, charcoal-textured tannins, the oak tucked neatly away. This is a beautifully crafted wine—expressive of both Eden Valley and Henschke—that should cellar well into the 2040s. (Cellar Selection)
Aromatic and elegant, but definitely not shy, showing rich, pure wild blackberry puree, huckleberry and blueberry pie flavors on a silky frame, with details of Earl Grey tea, palo santo, cigar box and salted dark chocolate. Ends with a tremendous finish that goes on and on. Drink now through 2046. 200 cases imported.
Winery Notes
Very deep crimson in colour. Definitive Mount Edelstone shiraz aromas of sage and crushed black pepper lead to brightly spiced plum, blue and black cherry characters, enveloped by crushed flowering herbs with cedar nuances. Vibrant, wild forest berries are layered beautifully into a rich and elegantly textured palate with fine velvety tannins and lingering notes of black pepper and sage for an extremely long finish.