2009 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz

The Mount Edelstone vineyard, meaning gemstone, was planted in the 1920's on the eastern slopes of the hill of the same name, located in Keyneton, high in the ranges east of the Barossa Valley. The now 97 year old vines produced impeccable fruit in 2009, a season rated by the Henschke’s as exceptional. The wine was matured in a combination of 76% French (66% new, 34% seasoned) and 24% new American hogsheads for a period of 21 months prior to blending and bottling.

Opaque black crimson colour with dark crimson red hue. Very perfumed the nose offers up delightful top notes of ripe dark plum and liquorice followed by some blackberry, subtle dark chocolate, toasty oak and spice. Fleshy, rich and abundantly fruited yet possessing a textural elegance and silkiness the wine floats across the palate with mouthfilling flavours of ripe blackberry, dark ripe plum, chocolate bullets, toasty oak and spice. Trademark Henschke velvety tannins showing superb depth with very long ripe blackberry, dark plum, liquorice, toasty oak and spice aftertaste.
Alc 14.5%

Other Reviews….
Now comes with a glass stopper, which I have to admit, looks and feels very appealing. I like the satisfying little ‘snap’ it makes as you push it back into the bottle.

Blackberry, blackcurrant and redcurrant, sage and menthol, vanilla and chocolate with a suggestion of truffles buried beneath. Complex and layered with a sweep of plush, silky tannin that caresses the mouth–creamy almost–and just above medium bodied, the balance and pitch of it all just so. Sweetly fruited as a young wine, but not overly so, and there’s plenty of adult coffee grounds and spice to level it off. Super length of flavour. It’s a pretty high level Mount Edelstone.
Drink till 2035+
96 Points
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

Deep crimson; a delightful euphony of red fruits, black fruits, quartz, spices and a touch of briary complexity; the medium-bodied palate is poised and precise, offering a velvety armchair ride to a long, even and multilayered conclusion; wonderful nerve and energy, with a very long life ahead indeed. Shiraz.
Drink till 2040.
96 points
Ben Edwards – James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion