Henschke Henry’s Seven 2024

A classic Rhone-style blend painted in Barossa colours: 53% Barossa Valley and 47% Eden Valley fruit with Shiraz leading the way (76%) plus 1% co-fermented Viognier, followed by Grenache (16%), Mataro (7%). Garnet in the glass, fragrant with blueish petals, violet to the fore, as well as crushed, fresh kitchen herbs and a distant note of freshly sawn timber; there’s only 10 months of 10% new French oak in the maturation which is plenty for this wine. Styled in the crunchy, juicy, red berry flavour spectrum, crimson plums between tart and softly ripe leading the fruit, bay and sage adding their herbal edge, the palate still has decent grip in the finish to suggest its capacity for excellent matching with anything juicy and red from the barbecue.