Henschke 1992 Eden and Barossa Valley Keyneton Estate Shiraz Cabernet Malbec

"From The Garden of Eden"

It was Sunday afternoon and we decided to crank up some retro vinyl we had just purchased while the wife made her signature T-Bone steak with balsamic vegetables.  As everything was going retro, I decided we needed a wine to suit and went rummaging through the rack back to 1992.  Right there next to the DeLorean time machine, I found this little gem.    

This wine was made long before the good folks at Henschke bothered with putting much emphasis into the marketing aspects of bottle shape, design and weight.   However, as the saying goes, you should never judge a book by its cover.  The bottle may not be heavyweight premium glass, but what’s inside is hot stuff!

This is a premium blend consisting of 70% Shiraz, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Malbec, all from low-yielding, ungrafted dry grown vines in The Eden and Barossa Valleys.

At first glance, this wine was really showing its age. The colour was edging towards brown due to some twenty three years since vintage. 

And then.... Welcome to the Nose! This is incredibly developed, with layer upon layer, as Sara Lee used to say. It has loads of fruit; starting with raisins and currants, fruit compote, leading into forest floor, rhubarb, crushed leaves, and ginger snaps.

The palate is deep. There is a whole bowl-full of dried fruit, raisins, currants, licorice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, white pepper, cardamom, and fennel.

It has a very developed soft palate, with soft tannins, but with persistent length, and it had thrown a very fine, but obvious crust.

Ultimately it is fleshy like a Central Otago Pinot Noir. In other words, it still tastes young and vibrant yet with massive flavours.

Henschke had already won three gold medals with this wine when purchased in 1994, showing some strength at a young age and ready for a long journey ahead.

The wine was at its peak and only just starting decline. If I had more of them, I would drink one every month until they were all gone, and be a very happy man. 

Price when purchased - $22. Current release sells for $50. These days it’s called the “Keyneton Euphonium”, (in tribute to a large brass wind instrument, which featured in the family band founded in 1888).

Current vintage has replaced the Malbec with Merlot and Cabernet Franc and the Henschkes say drink for 20 plus years. I have to say that the price of this wine has only increased by less than $1.50 per year to the current vintage price. There are many big name wines that have increased by more than twice this amount for wines of a similar class.

This is a great example of pricing restraint from one of Australia’s oldest winemaking families.