Henschke The Nurturer 2025

Truly, one of the more interesting wines to come across the tasting bench in a long while. The wine is named in honour of Prue Henschke, the legendary viticulturalist who has done so much to ensure that the family’s winery is deservedly seen as one of the world’s greatest. Prue seemingly stuck every variety she could get her hands on into her Home Gardens Vineyard in the Eden Valley and then, as the grapes were harvested, the team undertook a sequential fermentation, with each variety added in harvest order. The final blend is 33% Counoise, 16% Shiraz, 14% Grenache, 13% Grenache Gris, 11% Carignan, 8% Clairette and final 5%, Cinsault. The wine spent six months maturing in French oak puncheons, 16% of them new. Different! Intriguing! A bright cherry hue with a crimson edge, this is beautifully fragrant with alluring aromas, including raspberries, strawberries, cherries, spices and a hint of blackcurrant pastilles. Sleek, linear and focused, through to silky tannins with a line of juicy acidity, there is serious length here. A flick of sour cherry emerges on the finish. Enjoy this over the next six to ten years. Love it! This is fabulous value. And of course, put a bottle in your next blind tasting with mates and see if they can guess the grapes.

Ken Gargett

Contributor at Winepilot

Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.

Wine writer and critic