Creating new world wines
with old world class.
Great wines are the expression of the soils they are grown in and in the seasons they grow. Through knowledge and experience, we explore exciting new representations of traditional varieties and blends.
Dean Hewitson.
Owner and Winemaker of the Hewitson Estate. Affectionately known as the Mad Hatter, and an enthusiastic but average golfer...
Legendary cricketer with legacy developing nicely with age. He has a passion for creating new and exciting wines from much loved ancestral vineyards– inspired by the old world but with a new world twist.
Credentials and experience
• Childhood vocation– planting vines, harvesting grapes and collecting wine labels
• Bachelor of Applied Science– Oenology, Roseworthy College, Adelaide University
• Master of Science, Food Science– Oenology, University of California, Davis
• Old world vintages– Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Champagne and Provence
• New world vintages– Willamette Valley and Piccadilly Valley
A timeline of the oldest Mourvèdre in the world.
1770 - Captain Cook ‘discovers’ Australia
1788 - Australia Settled
1832 - Busby Collection leaves Europe
1833 - Busby Collection growing in Sydney Botanic Gardens
1836 - South Australia settled
1844 - Section 2702 in the Hundred of the Barossa at Rowland Flat purchased by Koch
1853 - Old Garden Mourvèdre planted on Section 2702
1863 - Phylloxera first noted in France
1873 - Phylloxera Grafting begins in France
1873 - Phylloxera found in California and is widespread around the world
1877 - Phylloxera found in Australia (never reaches South Australia)
1997 - Baby Bush Mourvèdre struck from Old Garden “Mother Vines”
1998 - First Hewitson vintage of Old Garden Mourvèdre
The wider history of Mourvèdre can be read here
Where it all began...
1853 was a great year, bringing us Vincent Van Gogh, potato chips, aspirin, Levi Strauss, Balfours, and the release of South Australia’s own currency– the Adelaide Pound.
Hewitson continues to release treasures from 1853 even today. An annual highlight is selecting the best barrels from both the Old Garden and Monopole Vineyards, wines made with exclusively 1853 provenance, to create the BARREL 1853 Shiraz Mourvèdre blend.
It is absolutely irreplaceable.