2009 Mount Edelstone Shiraz

A single vineyard shiraz with a pedigree that dates back to 1952, this is a stunning wine from an outstanding vintage in Eden Valley - and made by a stellar team. It's blush with an array of dark fruit notes, pepper, spice and soft tannins on a very long finish. Drink now or cellar: it's a sure bet either way

Henschke Mt Edelstone Shiraz is one extraordinary red wine from a century old vineyard that this revered family estate winery has treasured and turned into the most gloriously layered and elegant drink. Anyone who appreciates the finest things in life will swoon.

Mount Edelstone is never the biggest or boldest of South Australian shiraz but it makes up for it with sheer grace and fruit complexity. The 2009 is a triumph that shows waves of vibrant mulberry, earthy spice, mushroom and faintly floral aromatics encased in a succulent, dry, mid-weight palate backed by powdery tannins. Young and moreish, it will become something very special over the next 20 years.

Blackberry, blackcurrant and redcurrant, sage and menthol, vanilla and chocolate with a suggestion of truffles buried beneath. Complex and layered with a sweep of plush, silky tannin that caresses the mouth–creamy almost–and just above medium bodied, the balance and pitch of it all just so. Sweetly fruited as a young wine, but not overly so, and there’s plenty of adult coffee grounds and spice to level it off. Super length of flavour. It’s a pretty high level Mount Edelstone. Rating 96 points

Glorious spice and licorice layers woven into spot-on ripe shiraz fruit.

Vivid colour; it has a rich and deep bouquet with licorice, spice, tar and black fruit aromas; the palate extremely rich and complex, layered fruit with plush tannins, yet is supple; very long finish to an outstanding ’07 wine. Rating: 95 points.

Mount Edelstone may not set hearts racing in the same way as Hill of Grace, but it was the first label for Henschke with the '52 vintage, Hill of Grace following in '58, and is a great wine in its own right. Deep purple-crimson; the bouquet is intense and full of spicy black fruits accurately foretelling the power and purity of the palate; this is an outstanding Mount Edelstone. Indeed, I cannot remember any better than this; it has the focus and structure to guarantee a 30-year future. Alas, it will long outlive me. Screwcap. 14% alc. Rating: 96. Drink: to 2036. Price: $99.

Polished…gorgeous red cherry, pomegranate and mint flavors…92 points.

A cracker of a single-vineyard shiraz, fragrant beyond expectation, spicy with faint lifts of vanilla and sweet red to purple fruits, then sage and bay and sweet cedary hints in tune behind. In the mouth, there's plenty of all that but magnified, fleshy fruit dominant, exciting interplays, come-again drinkability through its sensible tannin structures. Seductive.

Bottled under screwcap, this wine is starved for oxygen when first opened, but it doesn't take long for the fruit character to lengthen out, its flavours ranging from persimmon to something blacker and rooty. The supple texture is the center of the wine's beauty for now, the flavours needing time to develop. For the cellar. Rating 92/100.

Good colour; has structure and focus with red and blackberry fruit; good spice and length, exemplary oak and tannins. A raucous return to top form. Rating 95/100.

Clean blackberry, plum and a touch of prune on the bouquet; the palate utterly belies the alcohol, with a cascade of black fruits and spices; very good oak and tannin management. Rating 96/100.

…a wine of poise and intrigue for the way it balances its rich fruit and earthy, meaty character on a supple texture.

Very classy wine-intense, distinctive, fruit-saturated and floral, with lots of length, tannin, highly defined fruit and very little obvious oak. It's a return to red-wine form. Plum, prune, violets ans a toe-lick of vanilla.

Oakey and spicy, but jumping with bright life, this vibrant, saucy wine shows intense mint and fennel top notes over its dense blackberry and prune fruit. It has perfectly balanced velvet tannins in a long, reluctant finish.

This is a most Australian wine, with the dust of the outback seeming to simmer in its distance. But it's just a baby, fragrant and elegant, with high notes of roses, mid-tones of red and black currant and, to complement that dusty base, the sniff of polished leather. The mid-palate is silky, intense and slick but is quickly overwhelmed by a rise of bone-dry tannin, which will ensure a huge future in the cellar. The finish is typical Barossan chocolate.

 Henschke Mount Edelstone is a concentrated black fruits and spicy wine with great refreshment and no cloy despite its power. Leather and spice plus exotics of hung game with hints of tar and the beginnings of its trade mark musky violets. Outstanding.

Old vine shiraz that is deep, rich and concentrated, and finely structured. Plum and dark fruit characters meld with intense spice and savoury complexity. Heavenly.

Luxuriant, opulent, heady, showing spicy plum, blackberry, cherry and gently peppery aromas and flavours that swirl harmoniously and echo long and sweet on the supple finish. Still youthful, this Australian red is already expertly balanced and poised to improve.

It was sublime, the perfect wine. Seductively smooth, alluring, showing great depth, complexity and character.

The dense chocolatey Mount Edelstone, testimony to how well the wines will age.