2022 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz 70th Anniversary Release, Eden Valley

The 2022 Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shiraz is bright, supple, spicy, savory and sweet. It is complex and shapely, persistent and delicate, with notes of bay leaf, raspberry seed, tapenade, wet moss and brine. This is a beautiful wine, and one of the most lovely Mount Edelstone Vineyard Shirazes I have tasted on release. I love the wines from the 2022 vintage; it may forever live in the shadow of the great 2021 vintage that came before it, but not in my heart. Drink 2026 to 2062.

98 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, March 2026

Deep, bright purple-red colour; fresh and bright young-wine aromas with notes of of blackberry underlying the fresh and dried herbs, smoked meats, pepper and mixed spices. Great depth of flavour and concentration but also supreme elegance and harmony. The balance is so impressive in such a young Edelstone. There are lashings of tannins but they are lovely supple, fine-grained tannins, in perfect harmony with the wine. An exceptional vintage indeed. Drink 2026 to 2065.

98 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, February 2026

An elegant wine of great finesse and poise that captures in an instant the very essence of this great vineyard. The nose shows a more savoury black olive and sage bush character that is lifted with an edgy pepperiness with a hint of bay leaf. It’s bright, lively, with almost boundless energy.. This is the modern Edelstone style in essence, captured magnificently. Has all the character with less opulence and more finesse. Love it. There is great brightness and energy with a luminosity that positively glows on the palate. Has traces of the vineyard dried herb and herbal characters with a sage bush infusion. A highly scented wine that captures the vineyard itself in full flower. The wine is impeccably balanced with the 110- year-old vines delivering fruit of tremendous concentration and intensity harness with a fine acidity and tannin contribution, with a combination of 8% new and 92% season French oak hogsheads holding it for 20 months. The vineyard itself is managed with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices. Drink 2026 to 2066.

98 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, March 2026

The 70th anniversary release of this much-loved and iconic Australian wine. A hail event reduced yields somewhat, with perfect instances of summer rainfall and a mild, drawn-out finish to the growing season. The end result was an exceptionally strong vintage. Bright magenta crimson with aromas of pure plum, blackberry and black cherry and a flash of blue fruits over sage, peppercorn, rosehip, mace, bay leaf, crushed stone, herb garden, gentle cedar tones, milk chocolate, pan juices and, further back, tobacco and crushed rocks. Beautifully balanced on the palate, showing a graceful arc of travel, the fine tannins melting away into the fruit. The finish stretches out persistently, all detail and elegance. Drink 2026 to 2056.

97 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

With this vintage, the Henschke’s celebrate an astonishing 70 years of releases from this legendary Eden Valley vineyard. The vineyard has actually been around considerably longer, providing Shiraz for 110 years, but good things take time. Maturation is for twenty months in French oak hogsheads, 8% of them new. Organic and biodynamic practices are used, as they are through the Henschke range. Blood red/maroon, the nose is a veritable herb garden. There are aromas weaving through tobacco leaves, sage, chocolate, cinnamon and nutmeg with a touch of vanilla from the deftly handled oak, bay leaves, black olives and black fruits. The balance is immaculate and the tannins as silky is one could wish. A wine of great length which will surely sit among the very best from this extraordinary vineyard, when we look back in the years to come. Recent experience has confirmed that there is no reason to think this will not last for thirty years at least, although there is also no reason to wait that long. Drink 2026 to 2036.

97 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, March 2026

Marking the 70th anniversary of this now-famed release. From a single vineyard of 110-year-old Shiraz on Henschke’s Mount Edelstone Vineyard in the Eden Valley — farmed organically and biodynamically — and aged twenty months in French oak hogsheads (8% new, 92% seasoned) before bottling.  Bright and fragrant mulberry and blueberry fruits lead, with violets and black peppercorn to follow, and sage, garrigue and lavender in the background. The palate is vibrant and lifted, mirroring the nose with lovely flow and energy — sitting high in the mouth without ever feeling weighty, anchored by firm, integrated tannins and red and blue fruit-laced acidity. Great poise through a very long finish; modern and bright, with the balance and concentration to age. A recent tasting of 26 vintages of Mount Edelstone spanning 70 years gave great insight into the signature characteristics of this vineyard and its namesake wine. The 2022 release has bottled the vineyard beautifully with classic character while maintaining a modern and approachable feel.

95 points Tom Kline for Wine Pilot, March 2026

Henschke has been making wine in the Eden Valley since 1868, and Mount Edelstone is the wine that cemented their reputation as one of Australia's great estates.

The vineyard was planted in 1912 by Ronald Angas on the eastern slopes of Mount Edelstone near Hutton Vale. Its name derives from Edelstein —  German for gemstone — after the small yellow opals once found in the area. Cyril Henschke first bottled the wine as a single vineyard release in 1952, making it one of the earliest recognised single-vineyard wines in Australia. The Henschke family purchased the vineyard from the Angas family in 1974.

The 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of the first release and the milestone coincides with one of the finest vintages in the wine's long history. A hail event earlier in the season reduced yields, but this was followed by perfect summer rainfall and a mild, long autumn. The result is a wine of exceptional concentration and elegance in equal measure.

Bright and fragrant on the nose, with pure plum, blackberry and blue fruits over sage, peppercorn, bay leaf, rosehip and crushed stone; the herb garden and savoury complexity that is the unmistakable signature of this site. The palate is simultaneously vibrant and composed, with fine, supple tannins melting seamlessly into the fruit and a finish of extraordinary persistence and elegance. Bright, lively, with almost boundless energy.

The 70-year history of Mount Edelstone suggests the real verdict will take decades to form.