Hewitson Wines

Old Garden Mourvèdre 2010

"profound and distinctive wine"
Nick Stock, The Good Wine Guide 2013

96 points

This ancient vineyard (planted in 1853) is a source of profound and distinctive wine that delivered handsomely in 2010. There's an unmistakably sanguine edge to this: meaty and earthy, darkblue fruits and a wealth of black, graphite-like terroir character. The palate scoops deep and even, really soulful dense tannins with dark berry, dark spice and earthy, meaty flavours all rolling through, not aggressive, just menacingly long and purposeful wine here.

"intensely scented of warm mulberries and black cherries"
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate on Feb-2013

93 points

Made with grapes dry-grown in the oldest Mourvedre vineyard in the world - touting vines planted in 1853 - the 2010 Old Garden Mourvedre is medium deep garnet-purple in color. This wine is intensely scented of warm mulberries and black cherries with underlying cigar box, allspice, vanilla and potpourri suggestions. Full-bodied and voluptuously fruited in the mouth, it explodes with blackberry, baking spice and earth flavors, has medium levels of grainy tannins and bright acid freshness. It finishes long with some cedar notes coming through. Drink it now to 2022+.

"A pinot drinker's Barossa red, if ever there was one!"
Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual on Jan-2013

94 points.
A pinot drinker's Barossa red, if ever there was one! An earthy, floral and faintly meaty boquet of cherries, plums, older oak and baked earth reveals a scent of fresh red flowers, dried herbs and a hint of spice. Smooth and silky, it's long, gentle and willowy, gently delivering a bright lit, almost sappy presence of cherry, plum and berry flavours knit with fine-grained tannins, before finishing charmingly balanced, savoury and persistent with a refreshing acidity.

"Both are great and unique wines..."
Chris Shanahan, www.chrisshanahan.com on 01-Jul-2012

Hewitson McLaren Vale The Mad Hatter Shiraz 2010 $70
Hewitson Old Garden Barossa Valley Mourvedre 2010 $110
These are tiny production wines from old vineyards located in McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley, both matured in all-new oak carefully (and successfully) selected to match the fruit. The Mad Hatter comes from a very old vineyard at Blewitt Springs, and Old Garden from a Barossa vineyard planted in 1853. Winemaker Dean Hewitson believes these to be the oldest mourvedre vines in the world. Both are great and unique wines, expressing the fruit flavours of their vineyards, enhanced and not overwhelmed by all the new oak.

"Superior liquid."
Mike Bennie, The Wine Front on 03-Jun-2012

Rating: 96 points

From the oldest known continually producing mourvedre wines in the world, sown in 1853 and given life these days by Dean Hewitson at Hewitson. He plays cricket for Five Way Cellars in the Laurent Perrier Cup, against my mighty Best Cellars, so I tend not to review his wines if he smacks me about when I am bowling. Fine striker of the ball is Deano. Anyway, 2010 and Old Garden...

An amazing array of spice, fruit, earth, savoury, sweet and 'other' in the bouquet here - so very deep, not assaultingly heady, just a piling of layers that makes for intriguing inhalation. The palate shows slippery rims, but the inward looking core is a black hole that reveals incredible depth of fruit with mille-feuille feel of gentle sweetness, slatey tannin, graphite minerality and leathery spice. Although deep, it's so far from overblown in richness - there's a groaning weight but also freshness. The wine coats the mouth but without walloping it, instead opting for a machine-oil sumptuousness that peters out into chalky, fine tannins. Allow this to morph with time open too. Superior liquid.

"Very impressive."
Ken Gargett, Spitbucket.com on 31-May-2012

Rating: 93 points

If you want old vines, they do not come much older than this. The oldest mourvedre vines on the planet, planted in 1853. Obviously, single vineyard, this wine spent 20 months in new French barriques.

This was quite tight when opened it. When I looked at it 24 hours later, it certainly had opened up and looked a much better wine. So decanting is advised, at the very least. Supple and intense, lots of chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Also black fruits and licorice, black jellybeans. Has a creamy texture and very fine tannins. Very impressive.

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