Prue Henschke: Halliday Hall of Fame Winner

Prue Henschke tends the soil in the Hill of Grace vineyard. Photo: Charles Phillpot.

In my first year as chief editor of Halliday Wine Companion I campaigned for the establishment of a Halliday Hall of Fame. It was overdue. There were initial suggestions that James Halliday himself could or should be the first recipient but discussions quickly swung towards Prue Henschke, There could be no more deserving first inductee.

On Prue Henschke’s announcement as the first Halliday Hall of Fame inductee I wrote:

“If the Hill of Grace vineyard could talk, you’d reckon that it would thank the world and perhaps even the Lord for bestowing the force-of-nature that is Prue Henschke upon it. The same applies to all of the Eden and Barossa valley vineyards under Henschke’s care, as indeed it does to the family’s orchard-turned-vineyard at Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills. Prue Henschke graduated from Adelaide University in 1973, having studied zoology and botany. For the past 50 years she has set about improving both the environment of her vines and the environment of her regions. The aim, at all times, has been to grow better-tasting grapes, via healthier vines, in an improved landscape. Prue Henschke is someone who could easily have won Viticulturist of the Year, in any ‘competition’ around the world, every year. She could because every year she leaves her world that little bit healthier, and that little bit better. It goes without saying that intellectual rigour is a key to her renown, as is determination, as is hard work. But there’s more to Prue Henschke than the sum of these parts. It’s doubtful that Prue Henschke has ever walked past a problem without stopping first to put it to rights. Her footsteps at all times are feather light; her impact, at all times, profound. On the basis of 50 years of proof, we cannot think of a better person to prepare the ground for those who follow.”

These words appeared in the first edition of the two that I worked on as Halliday chief editor, There aren’t a great many things in my time in wine that I’m proud of and, of course, this moment was not in any way mine, and was Prue Henschke’s entirely. But I am glad that I got the Halliday of Hall of Fame up and running, and that one of the world’s great viticulturists, from a great wine family, was the first to be named.