"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."
98 Points
Dave Brooks, The Halliday Wine Companion
"The 2021 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz was planted in 1912 and was 16 hectares from own-rooted, pre-phylloxera James Busby vine stock. The first Mount Edelstone wine was produced in 1952, from 40-year-old vines. The success of the Mount Edelstone was the inspiration for the Hill of Grace single-vineyard wine to be produced from the 1958 vintage. The Mount Edelstone vineyard is planted at 400 meters in elevation and has an easterly aspect trellised to the Scott Henry system, capturing the morning sun and avoiding the hot afternoon sun. 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. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
97 Points
Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
"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.
Dark, brooding red of concentration but levity. A freshness and elevated spice amongst dark chocolate-berry/cherry, mocha touches, liquorice, sweet, turned earth and mahogany/cedary woody elements. Tannins are light then build into chewiness, the dust settling into swishes and pools at the conclusion. It feels like it needs time to flesh out, though it is balanced at present. Moody, meaty red of old school, good school feel."
95+ Points
Mike Bennie, The Wine Front