Cyril Henschke developed a reputation for premium Riesling wines as early as the 1950s, after a series of memorable vintages fashioned from fruit grown to splendid Eden Valley vineyards. The dry, food oriented styles of Springton and Keyneton are naturally endowed with a capacity to evolve delicious toasty marmalade flavours. The mesoclimes are blessed with ideal ripening conditions which form intensely flavoured esters in the grapes. Julius has been named for a Henschke ancestor, a highly acclaimed artist and sculptor.

George Crossman Thyer purchased a property at the top of a range overlooking Eden Valley in 1877, from a tract of land granted to George Fife Angas, in a fertile area called Flaxmans Valley. It was transferred in 1912 to Joseph Hill Thyer, who pioneered the first vines on this property. Cyril Henschke purchased the property from his son Kenneth Crossman Thyer in 1966, and established a large planting of predominantly Riesling at a time when it was scarce and bonuses were being paid by large wineries. The vineyard is planted on sandy loam over gravel and bedrock, with patches of clay. Julius is vinified in controlled fermenters, bottled unwooded and unaged, to capture and express the quality of fruit.