The auspicious Shiraz vines at Hutton Vale can be proud of the most distinguished lineage, tracing their forebears through the illustrious Mt Edelstone property, back to the original James Busby clones, sired by Yalumba's Samuel Smith in the 1850s. The quality of fruit as it ripens on the vine really needs to be seen to be appreciated, tiny berries with supple leathery skins, open fermented and filled to a luxuriously high proportion of new oak hogsheads for two years maturation. Eden Valley Shiraz of the highest provenance, august yet elegant, resplendent and refined.

From the earliest days of viticulture, farmhands would prune vines each winter to ensure a good crop of grapes the following season. They discovered that meats grilled over the discarded canes acquired a unique, slightly sweet smoky flavour. All across Europe, the burning of vine canes became a midwinter festival. The team at Hungerford Hill have revived this ancient tradition, a celebration of the synergy between barbeques and good wine, Vinefire makes the perfect match to grilled meats and seafood, seared vegetables or fried rice.

Selection of site was essential to the success of the Hugo property. The climate, soils and proximity of McLaren Flat to the coast are contributing factors in maintaining the quality each and every year. Colin Hugo established Shiraz vines on the family farm during the 1950s, John Hugo followed in his father's footsteps, assuming responsibility as steward of the vineyard throughout the 1970s, ultimately taking the initiative to retain the best grapes for his own estate label. The finest parcels of Hugo Shiraz are treated to an extended term of maturation in a selection of finely coopered American oak barrels.

The Hugo family property was a mixed farming enterprise, dairy and sheep stud, almonds and tomato, not to mention a paddock or two of grapevine for personal consumption. The first commercial vintage of Shiraz was in 1979 but a Reserve quality Shiraz was not considered for another twenty years. Limited yields from the oldest blocks are treated to an extravagant fermentation in completely new French and American oak barriques, after an inspection and barrel cull, the very finest lots are assembled into the McLaren Flat flagship Hugo Reserve Shiraz.

Scotsdale was acquired by Howard Park as a pastoral property, specifically chosen and planted to make a single vineyard wine. Shiraz is harvested according to flavour with little regard for analytical data. Fruit is vinified in open top fermenters and gently hand plunged, integral to tannin development and flavour extraction, gently basket pressed to French oak barriques for completion of ferment, followed by extended maturation. Scotsdale 2000 was crowned by trophy at the Divine State of Origin, vintage 2004 claimed gold at the prestigious Great Australian Shiraz Challenge.

Leston Vineyard was Howard Park's first Margaret River property, established 1996 to a bucolic sheep farm which bords Wilyabrup Creek. This is the heart of Margaret River viticulture, a place of salubrious sandy soils and temperate, maritime climes. Hand picked Shiraz from Blocks 4 and 17 are treated to completion of ferments and eighteen months maturation in a high proportion of new French oak puncheons, hogsheads and barriques. An opulent style, seasoned by ginger, anise and tradewind spice, dressed in a lycra of chewy, liquorice tannins.

Three British Army officers, in their capacity as agents of the East India Company, established one of Western Australia's first agricultural enterprises in 1836. Named after Captain Richmond Houghton, it was not until Thomas Yule's stewardship that vines were planted and the first vintage of Houghton wine flowed in 1859. Thomas Yule now sources fruit from the eminent Justin Vineyard in Frankland River, a dark ruby Shiraz of lifted liquorice and intense brambleberry, seasoned by piquant pepper notes and supported by a length of exceptionally fine tannins.

Houghton have been making wine for as long as many of the old world's great estates. The peerless quality of their fruit, exacting attention to viticulture, uncompromising excellence in vinification and exquisite balance are qualities which set the wines of Houghton apart. Shiraz was one of Houghton's earliest plantings, a succession of notable viticulturalists and winemakers continued the tradition of developing vines and improving the quality of fruit. The Houghton of today can lay claim to the most splendid Shiraz vineyards in Western Australia.

Frankland River yields remarkable vintages of Shiraz, Houghton were at the very genesis of the region for viticulture, they retain the finest vineyards. A collation of the best parcels from choice sites have been assembled by the Crofters team, treated to vinification in traditional open top vessels, gently pressed to a selection of French oak for completion of ferments and a year of age. Its profound structure and piquantly spiced black currant fruit richness, makes a perfect match with game recipes, well seasoned lamb or freshly ground curry recipes.

A very good friend challenged Dean Hewitson to construct the traditional, full bodied Barossa Shiraz, to be drunk young at lunch or at dinner, without straying from the fundamental Hewitson philosophies of French oak, fine grained tannins, perfect balance and profound expression of fruit. The Hewitson loves a challenge and rose to the moment with a delicious, forward drinking old vines Barossa Shiraz, dressed in the finest French oak. Most definitely full bodied, yet has great balance and poise with it's signature drinkability factor.

From an elite site between Seaview Ridge and Blewitt Springs in the McLaren Vale, cropping at a bit over two tonnes an acre. As a single vineyard wine, a limited quantity of Mad Hatter is made each year. Mad Hatter is not a reference to Alice in wonderland, rather it is the nickname Dean Hewitson's closest friends have called him for many years. And why mad? Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with Hewitson will surely be able to explain.

The family Hentschke have been Barossa farming since 1842, they know from good soils and settle on nothing but the finest land. Keith Hentschke chose a special site along Greenock Creek, at the intersection of Gerald Roberts and Jenke Roads, in the ancient winegrowing hamlet of Seppeltsfield to plant vines in the early 1990s. They now yield vintages of the most amazing concentration, saturated with the essence of grand Barossa Shiraz, a remarkable intensity of chewy bramble berry flavours, heady jube perfumes and soft, savoury chamois tannins.

A limited release Old Vine Shiraz, from fruit of peerless quality, picked off precious family managed sites around the ancient hamlets of Ebenezer and Tappa Pass. Barossa Valley is unique in the world of wine for its heritage of devoted growers, descended from the earliest Lutheran settlers. They are often blessed by a harvest of the most extraordinary fruit. Henschke are well positioned to take advantage and retain the best of the best, treating the finest Barossa Shiraz to a regimen of timeless and traditional, old world vinification techniques.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. From vines almost a century of age, established to a superior Eden Valley site, selected by one of the nation's most venerable viticulturalists. Deep loam soils and a Mediterranean climate, refreshed by cool nights, permit a slow ripening which encourages the ancient vines to yield parcels of the most extraordinary Shiraz grapes. Inaugurally bottled as a single vineyard edition in 1952, with a provenance that's second to none, Mount Edelstone represents a bespoke rival to the mighty Hill of Grace.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Edelstone means gemstone, the vineyard itself is a single delineated historic site, planted in the early 1900s on the eastern slopes of a hill bearing the same name. Low yielding, ancient dry grown vines, an extraordinary quality of fruit and traditional hands on vinification are essential to one of the nation's most venerated Old-Vine Shiraz. Henschke first released a pure Edelstone Vineyard wine in 1952, it is internationally recognised as Australia's great first growths of Shiraz.

From a small block of younger vines on the illustrious Hill Of Grace Vineyard in Valley Eden. The precious block was planted during the 1990s around the ruins of an ancient post office, on a property name after Gottlieb Rosenzweig rose twig, one of the early Lutheran settlers who established his homestead at nearby Parrot Hill. Matured eighteen months in a high selection of new French oak hogsheads, Hill of Roses is marked by its exceptional finesse, licorice notes, blackberry and cassis, a measure of tittilating five spice on the seemingly endless, creamy tannin finish.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Over 165 years ago, Johann Christian Henschke came from Silesia to settle in the Eden Valley. His legacy is one of Australia's great luxury brands. By the time third generation Paul Alfred Henschke took over the reins in 1914, the famous Hill of Grace Shiraz vines were more than fifty years old. A fully endowed, engaging wine in old world styling, Hill of Grace unlocks layers of complexity as it breathes and evolves in the glass. Vintage 2006 shaped up as another high quality year, with a growing season which reduced the yields.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Hill of Grace is a unique delineated single historic vineyard, one of the nation's earliest plantings. The site lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran Church, built of local field stone, which was euphoniously named Gnadenberg.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Exclusively Hill of Grace Shiraz from pre-phylloxera material planted around the 1860s by Henschke ancestor, Nicolaus Stanitzki, to rich alluvial soils on a shallow fertile valley just northwest of the winery. Searing heat for vintage 2004 caused sunburn and significant crop losses. New records were broken with South Australia experiencing its hottest day ever. March returned the region to glorious sunny days and cold dewy nights, allowing the fruit to ripen under near perfect conditions, delivering a harvest of excellent quality.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Crafted from the hand picked fruit of national heirloom blocks ranging between 52 and 144 years of age, Hill of Grace is Australia's most prestigious, first growth, single vineyard wine.

A pure, single vineyard wine from Shiraz grapes picked off pre phylloxera material brought to the Barossa by European settlers in the mid 1800s. Vinified from the fruit of vines up to a century and a half of age, to be luxuriously aged under a selection of completely new oak for eighteen months. Australia's finest and most distinguished single vineyard wine.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Hill of Grace is a place of great international renown in the world of wine, the most historically significant vineyard in Australia, planted circa 1860 by early Lutheran settlers fleeing persecution. Home to some of the globe's most precious blocks of Shiraz, it lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran Church named Gnadenberg.

Hill of Grace is a magnificent Eden Valley Shiraz, fashioned from vineyard blocks up to a century and a half of age. Full bodied and stunningly perfumed, endowed with a concentration of spellbinding old vine characters, the distinguished and compelling Hill of Grace is acclaimed internationally as one of the new world's great first growths in wine.

Hill of Grace is surely one of the most evocative phrases in the world of wine. For Henschke it is the name of both the vineyard and the wine that has so captured the heart of the wine world. The eight hectare vineyard on the original thirty hectare block sits at an altitude of 400 metres, an isolated spot that was once a village. The oldest blocks are a century and a half of age, they are called upon to provide the backbone of fruit, vinified alongside parcels from younger old vines which are all a minimum fifty years of age.

One of the new world's great single vineyard wines, celebrated internationally as much for the heritage of its ancient vines, as for the artisanal craftsmanship and skill of the winemaker. Stephen Henschke has retained the traditional approach to viticulture and vinification as employed by his forefathers. The key to the enduring success for Hill of Grace, comes down to the care of ancestral vineyard blocks and a holistic approach that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Henschke take a puristic, holistic approach that has been passed down from generation to generation and has now become intuitive. A pure single vineyard wine of spectacular concentration, Hill of Grace is a wonderfully complex old vine Shiraz that unfolds more flavours and perfumes as it evolves in the glass.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Henschke take a minimalist approach to handling the precious fruit of a great historical vineyard. Excessive handling, racking or movements of the wine are avoided, every opportunity is given for the fruit to speak for itself. Earthy and mineral, concentrated with the explosive black bramble characters of a superior Vallée du Rhône, cossetted by a veneer of new oak ferments and endowed with the most refined, elegant tannins.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. One of the world's great vineyards, Hill of Grace is preserved through the efforts of Prue and Stephen Henschke, as they employ a regimen of traditional agricultural techniques which would have been familiar to Australia's earliest pioneers. The site was originally chosen for its auspicious mesoclime, it remains the source of the nation's most exceptional single vineyard wine. Shiraz grown to the pre phyloxera vines a century and a half of age, is minimally handled, allowing the outstanding quality of fruit to speak for itself.

One of the few quality releases, out of what was a lesser vintage around Australia. Inconsistent weather patterns, followed by February heatwaves, made unremarkable wines everywhere, some of the Barossa and Eden Valley vineyards however, somehow managed to pull through and yield parcels of superior quality fruit. Hill of Grace delivered an elegant wine, perfumed with violets and sweet red fruits, concentrated with flavour and supported by a length of caramel vanilla oak, a perfect balance and endless finish.

Vintage 1988 brought a harvest of the most outstanding Shiraz to Valley Eden. A smaller yield due to spring frosts, the bulk of the growing season was long, warm and dry, ideal for Henschke vineyards. A highly memorable Hill of Grace, the grapes came in early and in superb condition, the finished wine was characterized by a spectacular concentration of Eden Valey Shiraz fruit characters.

Vintage 1985 proved too hot and dry for most vineyards within the environs of Eden and Barossa Valleys. Severely reduced crops for most South Australian wineries were further decimated by the ravages of a very wet autumn. Henschke's Eden Valley fruit was saved largely by it's protective Shangrila topography, a unique mesoclime which yields the most precious harvests while maintaining the excellence of Australia's finest single vineyard wine.

A long period of drought was broken by welcomed rains early in the 1984 growing season, which heralded an opportunity to produce a good harvest. The weather turned warm at vintage, finishing a good year with favourable conditions. Slightly more restrained and reserved than releases from similarly warm years, the old Eden Valley vines yielded Shiraz of tight fruit character and exquisite balance, Henschke Hill of Grace again led the way.

A disastrous vintage across most winegrowing regions, vintage 1983 was one which most Australian winemakers would rather forget. Wildfires such as the cataclysmic Ash Wednesday, hail, drought and heat, it all happened in 1983. Somehow, the Henschke vineyards, cocooned around the higher Eden Valley ranges, seemed to rise above the adversities of vintage and produce a very fine Hill of Grace. A refined Shiraz wine of judicious background oak and good concentration of articulate, old vine Shiraz characters.

A favourable summer, experiencing warm and even temperatures was preceded by much welcomed rains, which nourished the Henschke vineyards early in the growing season. The vines were highly stimulated by the superb conditions of vintage 192, unfettered by climactic setbacks, Shiraz ripened beautifully, the batches of fruit came in on time and in remarkable shape. Henschke remain dedicated to the sustainable management of the grand old vines, applying regimens of viticulture which would have been familiar to forebears, a century and a half ago.

A growing season which proved too hot and dry for most vineyards across South Australia, budburst and fruit set were a disappointment, bringing softer yields which continued to diminish throughout the summer. The Henschke wines from 1981 stood out brilliantly, as traditional viticulture and generations of accumulated skill make an essential contribution. Hill of Grace was spared the excesses ofe vintage, yielding exquisite grapes with ripe tannin levels, ideal for flavour development. A genuine, but rare class effort from the vexed 1981 vintage.

Henschke is one of the longest established names in the Barossa. Johann Christian Henschke purchased land for a farm at Keyneton in 1861, after fleeing religious persecution in Silesia. He planted a small vineyard and an orchard. After initially making wine for family consumption, he produced his first commercial vintage in 1868. Each generation built upon the reputation for quality, but it was fourth generation Cyril Alfred Henschke, who in 1958, created the wine that has most captured the wine world's imagination, Hill of Grace.

Hill of Grace, the name of the vineyard and the wine that has so captured the heart of Shiraz cohorts around the world, shared an unfavourable growing season alongside most of Australia's winegrowing regions. Hot and dry throughout summer, a prolonged wet autumn, tested the ancient vines, and the superlative skill of the Henschke growers. Nevertheless, 1979 produced a delicate and refined Hill of Grace, worthy of the name's stature. A lighter, sweeter, pleasantly plump and jammy wine with ripe, brambly fruit, oak influence and supple, soft tannins.

Hill of Grace came delivered a majestic and long lived Shiraz in vintage 1978. The growing season was dry but temperate, unhampered by environmental vagaries, the old vine fruit was allowed to develop to textbook ripeness, the finished wine represents a classic Australian red of richness and longevity. Honest, earthy and tarry, an almost porty ripe Shiraz, vintage 1978 initially exhibited fleshiness and lively sweet fruit combined with a firm tannic backbone. An honest and generous edition with integrated oak and supple finish.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. One of the new world's most renowned marques in Shiraz, a wine of stature which carries a pedigree that only Lutheran consecrated, Eden Valley vines can impart. You expect something very special from the prestigious Hill of Grace and Henschke truly delivers. A lush, pure and sweet offering with all the essences of complex old vine Shiraz, intensely perfumed and solidly structured, on a length of velvety soft tannins.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Hill of Grace is surely one of the most evocative phrases in the world of wine, capturing the heart of red wine lovers everywhere. The vineyard lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran Church, built of local field stone and named Gnadenberg which translates into Hill of Grace. Cyril Henschke, the fourth generation, made the first single vineyard Hill of Grace wine in 1958. The original vines are now a century and a half of age.