Hill Of Grace Shiraz, Eden Valley

Producer history

The Henschke family has farmed and made wine at Keyneton in the Eden Valley since 1868, when founder Johann Christian Henschke, an immigrant from Silesia who had arrived in South Australia in 1841, produced the winery's first vintage. The Hill of Grace vineyard itself predates the Henschkes' involvement with it: vines were originally planted there in the early 1860s by another Silesian settler, and the second-generation Paul Gotthard Henschke acquired the land near the Gnadenberg church, which included those vines, around 1891. Third-generation Cyril Alfred Henschke took over in 1950 and, in the following decade, both shifted the winery toward table wines and released Hill of Grace as a distinct bottling for the first time in 1958. Stephen Henschke, the fifth generation of the family to lead the winery, took over with his wife Prue Henschke — the estate's viticulturist — in 1979 after Cyril's death, and the two have run the estate together since, with a sixth generation (Johann, Justine and Andreas Henschke) now also active in the business. The winery remains privately, family-owned — a rarity among wines of Hill of Grace's international standing.

Signature pairings

• Aged Australian lamb loin with native pepperberry — Old-vine Eden Valley Shiraz has enough ripe fruit and structure to match richly flavored lamb, and a regional pairing with Australian native spice reflects the wine's own provenance.
• Char-grilled wagyu with red wine jus — The wine's density and firm tannin frame stand up to the fat content of wagyu, while a red-wine reduction jus bridges the dish and the glass without introducing competing flavors.
• Dark chocolate torte — Concentrated old-vine Shiraz can carry bitter dark chocolate without being flattened by it, a pairing that works on richness-matching rather than sweetness.