Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz 1996

Hill of Grace is named after a region in Silesia known as Gnadenberg, translating to ‘Hill of Grace’. Cyril Henschke made the first single-vineyard shiraz wine from this vineyard in 1958 from handpicked grapes vinified in traditional open-top fermenters. The original Ancestors (vines over 125 years) are now approximately 160 years old and remain the heart of the Hill of Grace wine, along with a small selection of Centenarians (vines over 100 years), Survivors (vines over 70 years), and Old Vines (vines over 35 years), all planted on their own roots.

The 1996 Hill of Grace is outstanding with subtle aromas of blackcurrant, frankincense, Chinese five spice and green peppercorn. The palate is focused and beautifully structured with sweet fruit, spice, balanced acidity and fully molten tannins that provide elegance and length.

Comprised of 100% shiraz grapes from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early settlers in the mid-1800s and grown on the Hill of Grace vineyard in the Eden Valley. Matured in new French and American hogsheads for 21 months prior to blending and bottling.

Over 180 years ago, Johann Christian Henschke came from Silesia to settle and build his farm in the Eden Valley region. By the time third-generation Paul Alfred Henschke took over the reins in 1914, the now famed Hill of Grace vines were more than 50 years old. The original vines, known as the ‘Grandfathers’, were planted around 1860 by an ancestor, Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just north-west of the Henschke family winery. The red-brown earth grading to deep silty loam has excellent moisture-holding capacity for these dry-grown vines, that sit at an altitude of 400m, with an average rainfall of 520mm. Hill of Grace is a unique, delineated, historic single vineyard that lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran church.