A gorgeous wine smooth polished silky and seductive teeming with licorice- and exotic spice-tinged blackberry cherry and roasted meat flavors. Exquisitely balanced sporting a finish that keeps undulating for minutes on end. Magnificent stuff. Shiraz. Drink now through 2020. -HS

Bright red-purple; highly fragrant spice cedar red and black berry aromas oak evident but not excessive; it has a silky velvety texture and mouthfeel to a beautifully balanced medium-bodied palate brimming with black fruits; wonderful length and finish. Surely one of the best Hill of Graces. Shiraz.

Hill of Grace is 100% Shiraz from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early German settlers in the mid 1800s and grown in the Eden Valley. Some of the original vines are over 145 years old. Matured in new French (65%) and American (35%) hogsheads for 21 months the deep garnet purple colored 2006 Hill of Grace presents an incredibly perfumed ethereal nose of warm crushed blackberries rose petals kirsch violets cinnamon stick mace fennel seed eucalypt and damp earth. Very crisp and rich in the mouth with medium-firm velvety tannins and tons of fleshy fruit it displays opulent layers of warm berries and spice in the finish. This is staggeringly beautiful wine and delectably approachble even at this very early stage. I anticipate this great vintage will cellar to 2025+. 97+ -Lisa Perrotti-Brown

There's plenty of tasteful malty nutty oak a little minty fragrance spice and pepper with rich black and blue fruits. It's full bodied with a slippery seductive texture - the tannins super fine but fully supportive of the rich fruit. Savoury oak shows a firm hand at this early stage but is in harmony. I noted a slight saltiness and warmth too but not as negatives. Combines intensity and abundant flavour without being heavy or leaden. Superb long peppery finish. It's surprisingly approachable now and with a good decant will make a satisfying drink for the rich and/or hasty although obviously its best days are ahead of it.

The 2006 Shiraz Hill of Grace is still young and feels far from its peak. It already displays significant volume and rich aromas of primary mulberry, blackberry, clove and cedar in a riper frame that have not yet been fleshed out. The palate also remains a little closed with spicy dark berry fruits wound up in mouthcoating tannins. However, the length and balance are immaculate, suggesting it just needs time. -- Angus Hughson

Aromas of minerals mint blackberries and spices. Eucalyptus. Aniseed. This is generally released about five years after the vintage. Full yet very reserved and balanced and subtly flavorful. Rough silky texture. Real old vine character. Oldest is 1860. Drink now or hold.

A rich and supple vintage of Hill of Grace this wine balances the fatness of its tannins with a range of fruit flavors from black currant and blackberry to date and fig. It seems simple and lush as a young wine but there's structure underneath and detail in the tannins. Cellar this and that detail should grow markedly more complex.