Henschke Hill of Grace 2022
- 99+
- $1100
- Drink by: 2026-2071
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May well be the prettiest Hill of Grace yet released. May also be the best, and that’s saying something. I thought 2021 was the greatest yet, then came 2022. Doesn’t have the raw power and luxurious opulence of the ’21, yet this might be a case of less is more. The depth and intensity of fruit that comes from vines that were planted in the 1860s is undeniable, but it’s all harnessed and focused into an effortless, long, and most graceful structure. There’s a distinct combination of black olive and bay leaf with a lift of sage bush. The palate is immensely powerful and intense with a focused concentration of fruit. As it opens up, other sweet fruit characters emerge. There’s a little seaweed and subtle fish oil-like characters. Perfumed and floral with blackberry and blueberry notes. It’s still relatively tight with fine-grained tannins. There is almost no new oak in the 100% seasoned French oak hogsheads, where it spent 20 months.
Ray Jordan has been writing about wine for more than 40 years. His first articles were published in the early issues of national wine magazine Winestate in the late 1970s when he worked in Sydney as a newspaper correspondent. From 1989 Ray wrote more than 3000 columns as a regular newspaper wine columnist. He currently writes a regular column for the special business publication Business News and is one of the main contributors to national wine platform Wine Pilot. In 2017 Ray co-authored The Way it Was – A History of The Early Days of the Margaret River Wine Industry and previously wrote Wine in the Blood: Australia’s Family Wine Estates, published in Mandarin and English. In 2011 Ray was awarded WA Wine Press Club Jack Mann Memorial Medal for his contribution to the WA wine industry. His love of wine is as strong as his love of the blues and tasting the thousands of wines that cross his bench each year allows him to indulge in both.
