Henschke The Nurturer 2024

Named in honour of Prue Henschke, viticulturist, environmentalist and botanist, this wine perhaps is a next step into the future for the Henschke team given their long-play with Rhônish-style wines such as Johann’s Garden and Henry’s Seven. The detail is important: there are seven varieties here all with similar southern French callings, in volumetric order 22% Carignan, 19% Counoise, 17% Grenache Gris, 15% Grenache Noir, 11% Clairette, 9% Cinsault and bringing up the rear 7% Shiraz. If you reckon that’s crazy enough, now consider each was added in sequence as they were harvested into the one single ferment, all up over 15 days. The wine is lighter in colour, alcohol and weight that its Henschke siblings, with a focus on fragrant red fruit and dusted minerality, bright berry juiciness and tang, light in tannin, grounded with a crushed fresh thyme note. While all the winemaking technicals will thrill the geeks, the sipping is a pure joy to the senses. Winemaker Gwyn Olsen told me “it was so fun to make”. Happily, it’s just as much fun to drink.