Henschke Keyneton Euphonium 2013

The Barossa hills village of Keyneton, pioneered by pastoralist Joseph Keynes in 1842, was a musical and cultural focus for the early settlers, and was home to the Henschke Family Brass Band and the Henschke winery. The Henschke Family Band was founded in 1888 by Paul Gotthard Henschke and later led by third-generation Paul Alfred Henschke, and featured wonderful wind instruments such as a B flat euphonium, cornet and E flat clarinet. The B flat euphonium, a large brass wind instrument, was made by the famous Zimmermann factory in Leipzig, Germany, in the late 19th century. The instruments were imported by musical entrepreneur, Carl Engel of Adelaide in the late 1900s and have been lovingly restored and remain in the Henschke family.

The lead-up to the 2013 vintage saw an early onset of summer, with occasional thunderstorms and only four heat spikes, into the 40s, over summer. A cooler than average January followed by a warm February, brought the predicted early vintage even further forward. Even after the dry-fecta of winter/spring/summer the word from the winery floor was that it would be another great Eden Valley riesling year, followed up with some great old-vine shiraz. Fortunately, a desperately needed 16mm of rain came, the first for nearly six months, at the beginning of March to help the dry-grown vines struggle through to full maturity. The roller-coaster weather ride continued through March with almost weekly cycles of hot and cold. Cool drizzly weather at the end of March nearly brought the harvest to a halt, but with a return to the Indian summer conditions in early April, it gave us a chance to get the late varieties in Eden Valley over the line, predominantly cabernet sauvignon and merlot, returning us to another great vintage of average yields and fabulous rock solid quality.

Very deep crimson in colour. Dark, enticing aromas of blackberries, mulberries and ripe plums with herbaceous notes of crushed fresh bay leaf and sage, and underlying nuances of black pepper, clove and cedar. The palate is rich and lush, with fantastic balance between concentrated blackberry, mulberry and plum fruit flavours, spicy black pepper and mocha undertones, layers of texture, velvety fine-grained tannins and great length.

45% shiraz, 36% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot, 2% cabernet franc (56% Barossa Valley and 44% Eden Valley) Cellaring Potential Great vintage, 25+ years (from vintage).

"A blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc which says more about the vineyard and the Henschke winemaking expertise than the fruit composition. All the flavours are, as usual, fused together, oak and tannins providing context.
James Halliday 95 points, Wine Companion"