St Henri Shiraz 2017
Penfolds
St Henri Shiraz 2017
Overview
Overview
St Henri is a time-honoured and alternative expression of shiraz, and an intriguing counterpoint to Grange. It is unusual among high quality Australian red wines as it does not rely on any new oak. Released for the first time by Penfolds in the early 1950s (first commercial vintage 1957), it gained a new lease of life in the 1990s as its quality and distinctive style became better understood. Proudly, a wine style that hasn’t succumbed to the dictates of fashion or commerce. St Henri is rich and plush when young, gaining soft, arthy, mocha-like characters as it ages. It is matured in old, 1,460 litre vats that allow the wine to develop, imparting minimal, if any oak character. Although a small proportion of cabernet is sometimes used to improve structure, the focal point for St Henri remains shiraz.
| Varietal | Shiraz |
|---|---|
| Vintage | 2017 |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Multi-Region Blend |
| Volume | 750 mL |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
| Alc/Vol | 14.5% |
| Peak Drinking | 2022 - 2052 |
| Winemaker | The Penfolds Team |
Awards and Accolades
Awards and Accolades
| 98 points | Tony Love |
| 98 points | Ray Jordan |
| 97 points | Angus Hughson |
| 96 points | Erin Larkin |
| 96 points | Jeni Port |
| 95 points | Andrew Caillard MW |
| 95 points | Tyson Stelzer |
| 95 points | Nick Stock - James Suckling |
| 94 points | Ken Gargett |
| 93 points | Joe Czerwinski (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) |
| 18+ points | Matthew Jukes |
| 17.5 points | Jancis Robinson |
Andrew Caillard MW
"Deep crimson. Intense blackberry, mulberry roasted walnut aromas with herb garden, star anise notes. Inky textured wine with pure blackberry, mulberry fruits fine supple/ velvety tannins, lovely mid-palate generosity and underlying roasted walnut notes. Finishes brambly firm with plentiful espresso dark berry fruits. Very seductive and beautifully balanced St Henri with classic buoyant fruits and animated tannin ripeness. A lovely traditional multi-sourced Australian maturation style that offers the complete Penfolds story and intrigue in a bottle! This should develop very well with further bottle age. Lovely drinking now but keep for a while - 95 points."
Tony Love
"With the 2017 St Henri Shiraz; my first two tasting note words on the day, “Okay, Wow.” It is a highlight of the 2020 collection and an increasingly relevant shiraz style and it has so much going on in its deep, dark fascinations. To see this wine without any of the oakiness of its family siblings is to truly see it - a wine worth dwelling on. There is so much going on here, so much power with supreme grace. This 2017 vintage informs us why St Henri is so revered - 98 points."
Ray Jordan
"This masterpiece of Australian red wine is largely shiraz with about 3% cabernet just to keep it honest. A completely different animal to most of the Penfolds stable with maturation in big old vats that are more than 50 years old. The colour is deep. The aromas have savoury meaty characters, with that mix of stewed plums and liqueur cherry. Dark swirling fruits of black cherry, coffee grinds and dark chocolate on the palate. The acid line maintains the linear dimension to a very long finish. Just classic - 98 points"
Food Pairing
Food Pairing
Beef
Lamb
Duck
Veg
Taste Description
Taste Description
Nose
Savoury notes first detected, yet quickly courted by generous cherry liqueur/chocolate aromas.
Scents of dried beef sit alongside a textbook garrigue deconstruction – dried herb/oregano/thyme/lavender.
Perplexingly, an exotic emission continues – best guess – copha, cranberry and activated walnut!
Shiraz unplugged… oak or artefact not part of this wine’s demeanour. Smells like? St Henri.
Flavours and Palate
A masterclass of texture: plush, glossy, seamless – abetted by silky, polished tannins. One taster quipped: “millennial tannins”!
Black olive; coffee and mocha flavours abound, as do the generous shiraz fruits sourced from the northern viticultural reaches of South Australia.
Medium-bodied, with a great core and lovely framework – yet what is sipped fills the mouth so effortlessly.
A succulence is immediately noted – a fruited pomegranate/cranberry/quince paste-induced acidity, balanced with fruit sweetness.
Not trying too hard. St Henri rarely does.
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
South Australia
Home to the oldest vines in the country, and no less than 18 wine growing regions, South Australia accounts for almost 50% of Australia’s wine production. The Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and Coonawarra are well known for their world class reds, with Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and Eden Valley praised for their exceptional Chardonnay and Riesling.
Vintage Conditions
South Australia’s wine regions experienced a cool and mostly wet winter and spring, which provided the vines with plentiful soil moisture profiles. Longstanding rainfall records were broken across South Australia, with some regions experiencing minor flooding. The dams in Eden Valley were full by the end of winter. October was windy, which challenged fruit-set, however winds warded off any potential frost events in the Barossa Valley vineyards. Cool conditions extended the growing season, with flowering and veraison both later than expected. No heatwaves were recorded during summer and only a handful of days surpassed 40°C. Warmer weather in March was welcomed, allowing grapes to finish ripening, develop deep colour and varietal character. Harvest for shiraz grapes commence mid-March, a month later than the previous year.
The Penfolds Team
Key to the success of Penfolds has been a lineage of visionary winemakers. There have only ever been four Chief Winemakers at the helm of Penfolds – Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago, each a custodian of a rich winemaking tradition that goes back for more than 170 years.
Our current Penfolds winemaking team has more than 100 years between them as Penfolds winemakers. They are constantly refining and improving their work, whilst honouring the winemaking techniques of their predecessors.