My love for Hill of Grace began about 1985, when we used to have a work "caucus" of a Friday at the Paragon Hotel at Circular Quay. There was a guy who had a grill in the back bar (like a concession stand) where you could get a steak done just how you like it, but the pub bar back then did not serve any wine, although they had glasses. So we used to go around to the front (Alfred St) and buy some wine. Usually a Phillip Hermitage or similar so decent but not all that special.
After we had been doing this for a few months the manager got involved and revealed he had a few wines out back that were not really what the general public came in for, and would we like to try some. Amongst these was a late '70s case of Hill of Grace. we polished it off over a few weeks, and there was some other very good wines that we cleaned out that year. But the Henschke was an absolute stand out and bought for only a dollar or two more over the also rans which included a Grange!
My own small supply acquired when the prices didn't exceed Grange, ran out a few years ago, and the last one was a 1993 - never ever had a better Shiraz or red for that matter! And the bottle shop where all this happened is now a McDonalds - oh for the good old days!