HENSCHKE MOUNT EDELSTONE SHIRAZ 2021

The beautiful and historical name Mount Edelstone is a translation from the German Edelstein meaning gemstone. The dry-grown ungrafted centenarian vines were planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas, a descendant of George Fife Angas, who founded South Australia.

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"Deep crimson with ruby hues. Intensely fragrant aromas of blackberry, blueberry and Satsuma plum with signature spice notes of black, white and green peppercorn, wild sage, fresh bay leaf and bundled thyme. The palate is complex, plush and spicy, with black and blue fruits, rich dark licorice and fresh cut herbs, framed by elegant acidity and fine, velvety tannins for an exceptionally long, detailed finish."

98/100 Dave Brookes, James Halliday's Wine Companion (2021 Vintage)
"I used to live next door to this 109-year-old vineyard for nearly a decade and have seen the hard work and attention to detail that goes into its farming. The 2021 is an absolute stunner from a great vintage and I've no doubt that this will age gracefully for decades. The length of flavour with this release is quite something; the fruit is sleek, plush and on-point pure. Blackberry, Doris plum and black cherry layer with spice and hints of sage, bay leaf, pepper, olive tapenade, anise, violets and stone. Velvety and graceful in its flow on the palate with a fresh mineral cadence and superfine, powdered granitic tannins for support. It'll go down as one of the greats."

97/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com, Wine Advocate, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"The wine is velvety and layered with raw cocoa tannins, black pepper, Sichuan pepper, raspberry and blood plum. This has all the concentration and intensity that we know and love of Mount Edelstone; it speaks clearly to Eden Valley as a place, with notes of sage, bay, crushed rocks and a cool minerality that drives it through the long finish. This is a superb wine."

96/100 Natasha Hughes MW, Decanter, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"The Mount Edelstone vineyard was planted on ancient reddish-brown clay loam soils in 1912, and these centenarian vines always yield a wine of depth and rich complexity. The 2021 is no exception, and its velvety palate is packed with perfumed dark berry fruit, sandalwood, cedar, black pepper and sage, as well as a lick of sweet oak spice. Despite the headiness of the fruit, the wine doesn’t lack freshness, and the plush, deep-pile tannins also help to bring focus to the wine. Although it’s tempting to drink it now, time in bottle will repay patience by allowing the wine to unfurl further over the years. Harvested 31 March-12 April. Matured in 9% new and 91% seasoned hogsheads, of which 80% French and 20% American."

18/20 JancisRobinson, JancisRobinson.com, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"Mid-depth hue and still quite crimson. Really savoury, nuanced, rewarding nose. So dense and concentrated as it hits the palate! Yet it's cool and refreshing on the finish. It already seems quite expressive, and richer than The Wheelwright. This is a real charmer. The density of fruit obscures the tannin which is just hinted at on the very end with discernible evidence of a framework. This just goes on and on… Surely those with a prejudice against Australian Shiraz could be wooed by this?"

5 Stars & 97/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"Deep colour with a good tint of purple in the rim; there are raspberry and mulberry aromas coupled with sage and dried thyme herbal notes, the palate full bodied and firm with ample tannins and a note of oak char. The tannins are ample and well-married to the flavour and structure of the wine. Good length and balanced throughout. A superb shiraz, more peppery with airing: a stellar vintage for this wine."

95/100 Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"This is a bold expression of Mount Edelstone shiraz with rich plum, graphite, woodsmoke and black licorice characters bursting through the palate. Woodsy spice and mint notes hurry thereafter to catch up. There’s force to the fruit and there’s force to the tannin too, the latter of which feels grunty and serious, if not yet fully resolved. This is a lifted wine, smoky, meaty and dark on the one hand, but while the nose is generous and open the palate itself has a brood to it, and a creaminess. All indications are that this is a wine with a long future ahead of it."

95+/100 Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"Mount Edelstone in 2020 was devastating for the Henschke family, the whole vintage went into the museum and wasn’t released, though the volume likely could be drunk by the family alone, as a plus. The 2021 returns with abundance and balance, a stellar vintage for the site."