WINEMAKING

The oldest Mourvèdre vines on Earth are not in Europe. The Old Garden Mourvèdre Vineyard was planted by Friedrich Koch in 1853 and is renowned as the oldest of this grape variety in the world.

At over 165 years old, (older than Adelaide’s oldest building), just eight rows of these dry grown pre-phylloxera tri-centenarian, Barossa Ancestor vines still flourish on their original roots today. 

The much-lauded single vineyard wine produced from this fruit is our Old Garden Mourvèdre.

The Barossa is also home to the world's oldest vines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Grenache, Malbec, Semillon and Riesling.

Mourvèdre, also known as Mataro and Monastrell, has a cultish following for those in the know– most notably in Bandol, in the South of France. 

A complex, red grape characterised by bright dark purple berries, flavours of garrigue and game, with high tannins that need to be balanced together by someone with a knowledgeable touch and great care and respect during the winemaking process. 

Mother Vine Monopole Shiraz Vineyard is a Sélection Clonale from cuttings taken from a pre-phylloxera ancestral Shiraz vine planted in 1853. 

Fruit from this exciting one hectare vineyard has produced astonishingly high quality and highly lauded wine; bearing the vineyard's name.

Learn more about our wines made from our Irreplaceable Vineyards.

The Hewitson winery brings together state of the art with traditional winemaking practices and a soft footprint on the land. Attention in the vineyard with respect to drainage, soil health and biodiversity is coupled with attention in the winery with respect to cleanliness and temperature control allowing minimalist intervention winemaking.

The best fruit deserves the best oak to ensure structure and complexity for both young and old wines. We chose to only use French oak for its subtle but elegant influence on each of our cuvées and oak is chosen depending on toasting level, forrest source and age to suit the wines in which it will be aged in.