Wine of the Week: Elbourne 2018 ‘H.A.E.’ Shiraz

When you’re enjoying a glass of red at the dinner table, it’s easy to forget how much the wine you’re enjoying is the product of climate, growing conditions, and countless other nuances unique to that year’s harvest.

This week’s featured wine, Elbourne’s 2018 ‘H.A.E.’ Shiraz, has some very special characteristics due to a drought in the Hunter Valley seven years ago.

“You probably remember bushfires in the Hunter in 2020,” says Adam Elbourne, co-founder of Elbourne Wines, “so leading up to that, there were some really great red vintages in the Hunter Valley.”

“2018 was a hot, dry year, so you get more intensity. High sugars, good flavour, a little higher on the alcohol. A great pick for the traditional Shiraz lovers.”

Adam describes this Hunter Valley Shiraz vintage as “big and robust” by the usual standards of this much-loved Australian wine region, which is usually known for medium-bodied Shiraz. The ruby red fruit has a bold palate of dark cherry, plum, spice and chocolate notes.

‘H.A.E’ (lovingly named after the founders’ son Hugo Arthur Elbourne) is Elbourne’s flagship single vineyard Shiraz, grown from nearly 40-year-old vines, picked and pruned by hand on the family’s small and proudly independent four-acre block.

It’s just one of Elbourne Wines’ many successes of late; they recently achieved a five-star rating and a place in the “Top 10 new Wineries” in the James Halliday Wine Companion.

The winery describes the H.A.E. as “an exceptional vintage which will reward patient cellaring”; the product of careful maturation in high-quality French oak barrels, which gives it distinctive hints of vanilla and spice.

“It takes 12 to 14 months, and then we won’t release it for another 12 to 24 months. So it’s up to three years before it’s on the market.”

As with any good wine, it’s a unique time capsule that won’t be repeated.

“Our lines are very much seasonal,” says Adam. “We make what the weather or the season gives us. In a wet year, we make a different style of Shiraz to a dry year.”

“We don’t bring in any fruit, we don’t bring any juice from elsewhere, we don’t blend in anything from the year before. What we’re given is what we make.”

This vintage is being retired and is currently only available directly from the winemaker — but Starts at 60 readers can get special access to winemaker reserve stock for just a few days.

Elbourne Wines and Unovino are offering Starts at 60 a limited batch of just 50 bottles, available on a “first come, best dressed” basis, and only for a few days until Sunday 4 August, 2024.

Enter the code STARTSAT60 at checkout for a special 10% discount on this vintage — or any other bottle available on Unovino.com.au. Click here to get started.

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