There is little joy when as a critic, you have absolutely no choice but to be critical of high-profile wines, especially when they are made by people you respect. Yet I believe I have an obligation to be as entirely honest and straightforward with the doyens of the wine industry as I do with the wannabes, whose wines continue to arrive on my doorstep by the thousand. To be perfectly frank, the scores I have given some recent releases of Henschke wines, especially its reds, have been responsible for an extraordinary amount of reaction. My regular tastings have led me to believe that this winery has been faced with a substantial winemaking issue with regard to the brettanomyces spoilage yeast. I believe I have had no choice but to issue comparatively low scores to them. At risk of initiating another round of controversy, given Henschke’s established position near the top of the totem pole of Australian wine, I do not believe I can fulfil my obligations as a critic without commenting on its new wines. I have just tasted two Henschke reds from the very difficult 2000 vintage; the Abbotts Prayer blend of around 75% merlot and 25% cabernet sauvignon from the Adelaide Hills ($59) and the Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon from the Eden Valley ($88). While there is no apparent brett-derived influence in either of these two wines, I find myself again wondering whether or not Henschke is doing itself and its reputation any favours by releasing them under the labels of these prestigious brands. A clear victim of the under ripe-over ripe characters so prevalent in South Australian wines from this vintage, the Abbotts Prayer is distinctly greenish and sour-edged, lacking in fruit weight and structure. Its oak is overtly smoky and does not integrate with its fruit. There is more fruit weight and density about the Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon, but it also reveals a distinctly greenish, slightly sour and under-ripe thread of fruit. There is also a dankness and a flatness about its oak influence suggestive of well used and saturated cooperage. While it offers considerably more than the Abbotts Prayer, it does lack conviction. Neither of these wines reaches silver medal (17.0) standard. While these wines might indicate that Henschke has overcome its major winemaking problem, I sincerely hope that the reds from 2001 and 2002 reflect a steadily improving experience in the vineyard.
