PRE-VINTAGE
RAINFALL: Winter (consistent) | Spring (above average).
TEMPERATURE: Mild Spring and early Summer | No extreme heat.
UPSHOT: Consistent flowering and fruit set | Healthy canopy.
VINTAGE
RAINFALL: Summer (below average) | Autumn (light).
TEMPERATURE: Days (mild - average) | Nights (cool).
UPSHOT: Delayed ripening conditions | Gradual & extended flavour accumulation | Great natural acidity.
G BLOCK: Shallow red clay loam overlying red plastic clay | North-south oriented rows | Elevated eastern aspect | Long even sunlight
UPSHOT: Reduced natural vine vigour | Intense and vibrant.
FERMENTATION: Predominantly de-stemmed, some whole bunch | 7-11 days on skins | Open pump-overs & hand plunging | Basket pressed | 55% New French Oak | Natural malolactic fermentation | 22 months maturation.
PROFILE: Plum | Violets | Cinnamon | Clove | Star Anise
TEXTURE: Persistent drive & length | Complex, elegant layers of fruit intensity | Fine grained tannins.
97 points - THE REAL REVIEW
Very bright, deep, dense, glass staining purple colour; charred caramellised wood and graphite, smoked charcuterie and cocoa nibs on the nose; the palate dense and super-packed with flavour and ultra-ripe fruit. Some spicy/herbal characters. The tannins are biting and gritty with a hint of pleasantly cleansing bitterness and balanced grip. A massive wine but it's all in proportion, and will richly reward long keeping - Huon Hooke
98 points - HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION
Deep crimson in the glass and deeply aromatic with glossy satsuma plum, blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry fruits. Hints of baking spices, roasting meats, violets, dark chocolate, some distant ferrous notes, nicely judged vanillin oak and earth. The wine sports a contemporary feel but it sings true to the Barossan hymn-sheet with heady fruit density and purity, a superfine, compact tannin array and a bright mineral line that lends detail and cadence as the wine trails away with a sense of latent power and grace. Jeez, Hentley Farm is making some cracking wines at the pointy end of its lineup - Dave Brookes
