Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2015
The Henschke name is wine royalty in the Barossa’s Eden Valley. Their Hill of Grace Shiraz is considered to be the most prestigious single vineyard wine made in Australia. However, those in the know often look to their Mount Edelstone Shiraz for a similar fix of Australian wine history in a bottle. It has a similar pedigree - Mount Edelstone’s dry grown 100+ year-old Shiraz vines have been made into a single vineyard wine since 1952. This is a special patch of dirt high in the Eden Valley that speaks of time and place.
Profile
Take in a brooding nose with plenty of treble and bass. Lifted violets, red berries, earth and sage provide the top notes, while underneath there’s a core of macerated plums framed by spicy, toasty oak It’s fragrant - and a clear indication of what’s to come.
The palate is a rich and voluptuous ride; long and plush, yet assertive with its tannin and texture. Plenty of blueberry fruit and plum is carried here with a finish that goes on and on. One for the cellar - if you can resist. It’s looking tip-top now.
Reviews
Huon Hooke
“Deepish red colour with just a trace of purple in its rim, the bouquet is pungent raspberry, squashed overripe raspberry, classic Mt Edelstone. The wine is succulently fruit-sweet: gorgeously extravagant fruit floods the palate. It's almost jammy, the fine but persistent tannins just pulling it together on the finish so the aftertaste and follow-through are clean and balanced and refreshing. Lush fruit flavour, astonishing texture, very old-viney, a very impressive Edelstone. A stand-out vintage for this wine.”
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It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- Eden Valley
- Vintage
- 2015
- Cellaring
- 2040
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 14.5%
- Closure
- Screwcap
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- 100% Shiraz
- Serving Temp.
- 17.0°C
Tasting
From the producer
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.
Winemaking
Viticulture
A traditionally wet winter, mild spring and excellent fruit set provided a great start to the 2015 vintage after four vintages with below average yields. Spring was dry and led into a very mild, dry summer with no disease, resulting in fruit with higher natural acidity and incredible flavour and colour concentration. A dry, warm and windy start to January, however, resulted in one of the worst bushfires in the Adelaide Hills in living memory, though well away from our Lenswood vineyards. By the end of the first week, relief came with 60-75mm of rain and a record-breaking coolest January in 11 years. With the onset of veraison at the end of January, the rain was perfectly timed for the old dry-grown vineyards, and the mild weather that followed from February through to April provided for a fairytale vintage. Most of our white varieties and some Eden Valley shiraz were in before Easter, moving on to the rest of our Eden Valley and Adelaide Hills red varieties soon after, and eventually winding down at the end of April as the rain and cooler temperatures set in. The 2015 vintage has provided stunning and elegant shiraz from Eden Valley, that show extraordinary flavour, purity of fruit and acid balance with the potential for excellent ageing.
Region
Eden Valley
Next door to the Barossa Valley lies Eden Valley, a small yet highly significant Aussie region celebrated for their signature cool climate wines and impressive history. According to our sources, the first Eden Valley vineyard was planted in the early 1840s, and today there are just over 12 local wineries, both boutique and family-owned that continue to produce, exceptional vintages, including the famous Yalumba and Henschke. Renowned for their signature riesling and shiraz, the glorious region is a heavenly picking field for A-grade fruit. It comes as no surprise that many of Australia's winemakers source their grapes from the Eden Valley.
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
Braised shoulder of lamb
Ingredients
- For the lamb:
- 500 g greens, such as white cabbage, Savoy cabbage, Brussels tops or cavolo nero, leaves separated, stalks finely sliced
- 1 large bunch fresh rosemary
- 2 kg quality shoulder of lamb
- olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bulb garlic, unpeeled, broken into cloves
- For the smashed veg:
- 750 g potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks
- 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
- ½ large swede, peeled and cut into small chunks
- 75 g butter
- For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 500 ml organic chicken or vegetable stock, hot
- 2 heaped tablespoons capers, soaked, drained and chopped
- 1 large bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Directions
- In this recipe I'm going to show you how utterly incredible a slow-roasted shoulder of lamb can be. In exchange I'd like you to buy quality local lamb that's had the appropriate amount of hanging time. I'm going to let the meat speak for itself and not add much to it, just a simple sauce made from all the goodness in the tray. You can make this at any time of year served with any seasonal veg.
- Preheat your oven to full whack. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the tray on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put the rest of the rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven. Turn the oven down immediately to 170°C/325°F/gas 3 and cook for 4 hours – it's done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks.
- When the lamb is nearly cooked, put your potatoes, carrots and swede into a large pot of boiling salted water and boil hard for 20 minutes or so until you can slide a knife into the swede easily. Drain and allow to steam dry, then smash them up in the pan with most of the butter. If you prefer a smooth texture, add some cooking water. Spoon into a bowl, cover with tinfoil and keep warm over a pan of simmering water.
- Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover it with tinfoil, then a tea towel, and leave it to rest. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for your greens. Pour away most of the fat from the roasting tray, discarding any bits of rosemary stalk. Put the tray on the hob and mix in the flour. Add the stock, stirring and scraping all the sticky goodness off the bottom of the tray. You won't need gallons of gravy, just a couple of flavoursome spoonfuls each. Add the capers, turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes.
- Finely chop the mint and add it to the sauce with the red wine vinegar at the last minute then pour into a jug. Add your greens and stalks to the pan of fast-boiling salted water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes to just soften them. Drain and toss with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place everything in the middle of the table, and shred the lamb in front of your guests. Absolutely delish!
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