Hewitson Wines
Reviews & Articles
By Wine
The Mad Hatter Shiraz 2007
07 The Mad Hatter "Smooth and polished"
Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual on Dec-2010
Rating: 92 points
Dark and meaty, rustic but sweetly fruited, with ripe flavours of blackberries and dark plums married with fresh cedar/vanilla oak, faint suggestions of raisins, currants, prunes and nuances of iodide and mineral. Smooth and polished, with a fine-grained chassis of velvet tannins and undertones of dark chocolate, it finishes with a lingering core of juicy flavour.
2007 The Mad Hatter 94 points!
James Halliday, 2011 Australian Wine Companion on Jul-2010
Still holding youthful colour; red and black fruits, spice, a wisp of dark chocolate and mocha oak on the bouquet lead into a vibrant palate that has just enough fruit to carry 20 months in 100% new French oak. A modern interpretation of the Blewitt Springs subregion of McLaren Vale.
Rating: 94
07 The Mad Hatter "remarkable poise for such a difficult year"
Ray Jordan, The West Australian on Sep-2009
Score 93/100
This is from the Blewitt Springs vineyard in McLaren Vale. Clearly succulent and rich with some dense mid-palate fruit. It's soft and supple, striking a tight balance between the fruit and the 21 months of new French oak. Has a remarkable stylishness and poise for such a difficult year.
07 Mad Hatter Shiraz “rich, warm, Mclaren Vale fruit-and-nut-chocolate-style wine”
The Advertiser on 18-Jul-2009
DRINK...
Hewitson 2007 Mad Hatter Shiraz.
Let this have quite a bit of swish in the decanter before you get into it and you'll be rewarded with a rich, warm, Mclaren Vale fruit-and-nut-chocolate-style wine. Better in five years to a decade.
07 Mad Hatter – 93 points “suede-like”
Gary Walsh, The Wine Front on 13-Jul-2009
93 Points
At first I thought "hmmm you've laid the oak on a little thick here, Dean old boy", and while it's top quality oak of the perfumed vanilla cream variety, it's certainly dominant straight off the bat with the fruit struggling to cope. So pop the cap back on and come back tomorrow. The next day the black fruit has come up and the oak is subsiding and there's an attractive leather and earth character coming through too. It's full bodied, although not heavy or cumbersome, and the tannins have moved from being a little gritty to feeling suede-like in their smoothness. The balance and vinous intent of the wine making itself known to those with patience. Long finish of black fruit, chocolate and spice. Not the greatest of Mad Hatters, but a very good wine nonetheless - the rating moved up a point with each day's tasting (of which there were three).
GARY WALSH
Tasted : Jul09
Drink : 2011 - 2017
