30th ANNIVERSARY VINTAGE

Fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke and his wife Prue selected Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills as a new vineyard site in 1981, a serendipitous connection to the Henschke family’s history in the nearby village of Lobethal, translating to ‘Valley of Praise’ in German. At 550m, the slopes of the Lenswood vineyard offer not only beautiful views toward the older vine country, but also higher rainfall and humidity at the right time of year, cooler temperatures to retain natural acidity, and still enough sunshine to fully ripen the grapes. The Abbotts Prayer label links together the history, religion and farming of this mountainous region. The property along Coldstore Road, Lenswood, including historic vineyards in the area, was originally known as Abbotts Flat, and was established in the mid-1800s with the first land purchases by stock-owner Thomas Neilson Mitchell.

Vintage 2019 provided generally good growing conditions for the Adelaide Hills, with three notable events: the coldest September on record, the wettest November since 2005 and a mini heat wave on the cusp of January/February that the Adelaide Hills rode out extremely well due to good canopy cover. A rapid progression in berry maturation was kick-started by the Harvest Moon falling right on the spring Equinox, with all varieties ripening at the same time. Hand-harvesting was done in three weeks, bookended by the early sparkling and late red varieties. Yields were down by 20-50% due to ‘hen and chicken’ (berries of different sizes) from the cold, wet period during flowering, however quality was exceedingly good in both white and red varieties as a result of better ripening conditions. The standout varieties were the later ripening ones, in particular cabernet sauvignon and merlot, showing beautiful expression of varietal character and above average yields for two varieties that can be fairly challenging to grow in the cool Lenswood climate.