Details
In the Bottle
| Vintage | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Grape Variety | 100% gewürztraminer grown in Henschke’s Eden Valley vineyard and Lenswood vineyard in the Adelaide Hills. |
| Technical Details | Harvest Date: 20-28 February Alcohol: 12.5% | pH: 3.13 | Acidity: 6.5 g/L | |
| Maturation | Fermented in tank and bottled post-vintage (no oak or tank maturation) to preserve the wine’s fruit characters. |
| Background | The traminer grape originated in the Tramin area of the north-east of Italy. This variety has been grown for centuries in French Alsace and Germany. The altitude, cool climate and deep loam soils of Eden Valley provide excellent conditions for this variety. The gewürztraminer vineyard is planted on well-drained deep sandy loam and silt and is named after Joseph Hill Thyer who pioneered the first vines on this property in the early 1900s. This year a small percentage from Henschke’s Archer’s Vineyard has been included to lend greater aromatics and complexity. |
| Cellaring Potential | Exceptional vintage, 10+ years (from vintage) |
Vintage 2010. June 2011, Tyson Stelzer, Wine 100
Joseph has been out toning up on the hills of the Eden Valley. Taut minerality and poised acidity, a crisp, delicate chap with quite a perfume.
Vintage 2009. 20 February 2010, Tony Love, Adelaide Advertiser
The name of this wine breaks in two: "gewurz", referring to a spicy character that the traminer grape exhibits, so relate this to the fish cake with a pile of aromatic ingredients like coriander, basil and ginger and you find a bright and shiny mirror at the table, fragrant, a little lime fruit flavour and tartness, as well as a waft of rose perfume and yep, a touch of ginger spice. No, it's not a pop hit in disguise but an appealing exotic star.
Fast fact: Named after Joseph Hill Thyer who grew the first vines on this Eden Valley property.
Vintage 2009. 17 October 2009, Ken Gargett, Courier Mail, Brisbane
Also from Eden Valley, this is gently perfumed with hints of Turkish delight and florals. Broadens across the palate. Drink young. 89/100
Vintage 2007. 3 February 2008, Sally Gudgeon, Sunday Age
Gewürztraminer can shout its identiy out of the glass but this Eden Valley example is more restrained. It's floral rather than spicy, with vibrant fruit and fresh acidity. Try it with honey soy chicken.
Vintage 2007. 1 February 2008, Nick Stock, Adelaide Review
Going back a few years to the days when Australian gewürztraminer was even more of a rarity than it is now, this Henschke bottling was always one of the most reliable. Australian gewürz often struggles to deliver the phenolic and flavour ripeness whilst retaining even a semblance of balance, but not so here. Where others fail, Henschke excels, making their spicy, fragrant version one of the local stalwarts of this charismatic and elusive variety. High up in Eden Valley, they capture the perfumed musk, rose water and lychee that make this variety so ethereal and unique. Crisp apple and citrus fruit flavours, it's custom made for Thai cuisine.
Vintage 2005. August 2007, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion
A bright, clean bouquet with faint spice and rose petal aromas; a tight, reserved palate. Rating 90/100.
Vintage 2004. August 2005, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2006
Delicate but bell-clear rose petal and spice and spice varietal fruit;a dry but very long and fine palate; one of the very best examples of the variety.
Vintage 2004. December 2005, Tyson Stelzer, The Top 500 Wines 05-06
The difference between average gewurz and great gewurz in Australia usually comes down to structure and length. There are other examples which show the Turkish Delight, rosewater and fine perfume of the Joseph Hill, but few that support this with the same tight acidity and length of finish, thanks to the cool climate and altitude of this Eden Valley vineyard. An excellent example of what gewurztraminer is capable of achieving in Australia.