Henschke’s Hill of Grace - The Garden of Eden
BY ANGUS HUGHSON |
Henschke’s Shiraz Hill of Grace exemplifies human triumph and perseverance over 160 years, dealing with blood, sweat, tears and an unforgiving landscape. Hill of Grace embodies an entire family’s journey, first uprooted from their European homeland and delivered to the far end of the earth. Gradually, over five generations, the Henschkes worked their way into Australian wine folklore.
“Hill of Grace” is a charming title for one of Australia’s greatest vineyards, yet it obscures a darker past of 19th-century Lutheran refugees fleeing Europe for a mysterious land. The early Barossan settlers who traveled by ship from Northern Germany could be forgiven for rethinking their decision as they set sail for a new world. Merely surviving the journey on the pounding seas was the first of many challenges. Unfortunately, thousands did not make it.
Johann Christian Henschke was among those to chance their arm and set sail in 1841. He survived, but his wife Appolonia Wilhelmine and children Johann Friedrich and Johanne Luise died during the journey. After the harrowing ordeal, Henschke and his two surviving sons arrived in Adelaide, South Australia, which was little more than a trading post at the time. Baking, withering summers and a frontier life no doubt came as a shock to them. Their only source of solace during those challenging times was the musical instruments they brought from home.
It took another twenty years for the Henschkes to enter the world of wine. Christian Henschke first purchased land, only possible after he took an Oath of Allegiance to South Australia, on the Barossa Valley floor at Krondorf. But, in 1862, the Henschkes moved up into the Barossa Ranges and the Eden Valley. They purchased land in what is now named Keyneton. There the family followed the trend of their German homeland, creating a small mixed farm that included a cellar and vineyard of Riesling, with some interloper Shiraz in the mix. The inaugural Henschke vintage was 1868, only two decades after the first wines were made in Barossa.
The Henschke Hill of Grace vineyard.
The Eden Valley
The choice to purchase land in the Eden Valley was curious at the time. The Barossa Valley’s richness and natural fertility make farming easier, with more generous yields. In contrast, the Eden Valley has meager soils and, at 400m altitude, a cooler continental climate. Perhaps the area’s frosty nights and biting winters were more familiar and provided a taste of home. Or maybe the Henschkes had plans for a vineyard and thought that land where summer nights sometimes fail to hit ten degrees Celsius might be better suited to vines. They did not know then that they had settled in an area with some soils over 140 million years old. It proved an inspired choice, but it would take more than a century for the rewards to come.
Henschke’s iconic single vineyard Hill of Grace Shiraz, based on plantings that trace back over 160 years, is a wine built on intergenerational blood, sweat and tears. A rare vertical celebrating 60 years since the first vintage, including the inaugural 1958, showcased a wine building in confidence and stature to become one of Australia’s finest.
