Ranked #13 of 397 2013 Shiraz from South Australia
96/100
5 Stars
Huon Hooke
Deep, dense, dark red/purple colour. The bouquet is subdued and discreet, with fresh earth and discreet spice notes. The palate is where the fireworks really happen. It’s silky smooth, supremely elegant and fruit-sweet within its casing of fine powdery tannins. Soft and fleshy, elegant and not as full-bodied as other Penfolds reds this year. A lovely, lovely wine. (4% cabernet sauvignon. 12 months in large oak vats)
Tasted: 06/09/2016
Drink: 2016 to 2041
97 Points Robert Parker
This 2013 Shiraz St Henri follows in the blockbuster footsteps of the 2010 and 2012. The blend is 96% Shiraz with 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and the fruit sources are far and wide, including a real mix of terroirs: McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Padthaway and Port Lincoln. It spent 12 months in 50+-year-old casks. Deep garnet-purple colored, the youthfully reticent nose is complex, offering loam, aged meat, licorice, tar, scorched earth, fenugreek and cloves over a cherry cordial, blueberry pie and dried mulberries core. The medium to full-bodied palate reveals lovely, understated elegance and depth with a firm backbone of ripe, grainy tannins and many fruit and spice layers emerging on the finish. This is one for the long-long haul and, at a fraction of the price of Grange, should be where the smart money goes for stocking the cellar.
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. October, 2016
90 Points James Halliday
Always a blended wine, both in terms of region and the sometimes inclusion of less than 15% cabernet sauvignon (this vintage 4%), and made in the polar opposite style to Grange, matured in very old, large oak vats. I doubt it will ever be graced with a bin number. Perhaps it's simply the vintage, but the back-palate and finish are at odds with the rest of the wine, and most prior vintages, in particularly the superb '12. Drink to 2028.
James Halliday. November, 2021
94 Points Tyson Stelzer
A St Henri that doesn’t scream out for a long rest in the cellar – hoorah! This is a thicker, fuller, more generous, sweet-fruited St
Henri than the great 2010 and 2012, with a deeply coloured, glorious, vibrant purple-black hue. A generous and fleshy mid-pal-
ate is true to its dry and warm season, backed by firm, finely structured, well-handled fruit tannins. A sweet fruit core contrasts
nuances of exotic spice, all carrying long and focused. It’s a blend of 96% shiraz and 4% cabernet sauvignon from McLaren Vale,
Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Padthaway and Port Lincoln, matured for 12 months in 50+ year old large oak vats. Drink 2018 - 2028.
tysonstelzer.com.