Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz 2014

Henschke try to follow the biodynamic calendar but the Hill of Grace vineyard more than any other seems to be moon-cycle driven, always opting to pick on the full moon of easter.

The 2014 moon cycles put Easter quite late in the season, so the expectation of a life harvest prevailed until South Australia experienced its record number of heat days over 40C in January, culminating in the worst bushfire in Eden Valley in living memory up until that year. This was followed by the wettest February in 44 years. Fortunately Eden Valley was still in veraison, which allowed the quenching rain to rebalance the fruit, particularly in the older dry-grown vineyards. The change to mild autumnal weather in late February after the rains allowed for a focus on early vintage white varieties, while the red varieties continued to fully ripen. March became colder and wetter, which seemed to change to a winter pattern after the equinox, resulting in one of the longest and latest vintages. In summary, a challenging season with excellent quality but very low yields.

100% Shiraz from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early settlers in the mid 1800s. The Grandfather vines were planted in Parrot Hill around 1860 by Nicolaus Stanitzki on a plot of rich, red-brown alluvial soil with silty loam. A couple of years prior to that, August Henschke had bought land at Parrot Hill in the Eden Valley, donating a corner of his acreage for the Gnadenberg (Hill of Grace) Lutheran Church to be built on. The vineyard took its name from the church. In 1891, the Henschkes bought the vineyard. 1958 was the first vintage of the single-vineyard Hill of Grace wine. A hot vintage. Dry-grown vines at 400 m. Hand picked from 21 February to 7 March.