Vintage
2006
ABV
14.5%
Wine Type
Red
Wine Style
Still
Wine Description
Henley is named in honour of Geoff’s Grandfather, who passed away at the ripe old age of 102. This wine is the best of the best of our McLaren Vale Shiraz and only 10 barrels of the vintage are set aside for Henley.
After approx. 15 months in oak Geoff and Scott take part in the sensory evaluation of each barrel to determine which ones make the Henley grade. Once the barrels are determined, the blend is carefully made in the cellar and refilled into the very best French oak barrels we have for further maturation.
Accolades
97 points (Sam Kim - Wine Orbit)
95 points (Australian Wine Showcase Magazine)
95 points (James Halliday - Halliday Australian Wine Companion)
94 points (Campbell Mattinson - The Winefront)
Winemaker's Bio
Young Geoff Merrill was raised on a sheep station in the far north of South Australia, until his family moved to the Barossa Valley in 1964 when Geoff was just 11 years old. Unsurprisingly, this is where Geoff’s links with the wine industry were first forged.
At age 17, Geoff joined B Seppelt & Son where he embarked on a 4 year winemaking traineeship. Following this, he was lured to South Africa in 1974 with the opportunity to work as an Experimental Winemaker with Stellenbosch Farmers Winery, after which he set off to explore Europe.
Returning to Australia in late 1975, Geoff joined Chateau Reynella as Assistant Winemaker and was promoted to Senior Winemaker just 2 years later. He held this position until 1985 when he became a Consultant Winemaker for Thomas Hardy & Sons, who bought Chateau Reynella in 1982.
