Hewitson "Ungrafted" Grenache 2023 – Barossa Valley, South Australia

96/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
95/100 Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot
95/100 Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
95/100 Regan Drew, Wine Pilot
94/100 Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
94/100 Melissa Moore, Wine Pilot
94/100 Jeni Port, Wine Pilot
94/100 The Wine Front
93/100 Annette Lacey MW, Wine Pilot

5 Star Winery - James Halliday
James Suckling Top 100 Top Value Wine 2020
James Halliday Top 100 Winery 2017

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit "Gracefully rich and complex, the wine shows dark berry, cured meat, warm spice and almond notes on the nose. The palate is impressively concentrated and expansive with plush mouthfeel combined with beautifully melded tannins, finishing persistent and velvety. Sensually textured and meticulously balanced, making it captivating and alluring."

Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot "The wonderful old Grenache vines underpinning this beautiful wine from a beautiful vintage are more than 100 years old. Interesting technique. The fruit was whole bunch fermented in open vats for three weeks and then pressed to old French barriques for another nine months on lees. The approach in the winery has allowed the fruit to express itself without excessive tannin or oak influence. In fact, they are almost dormant in the background, although you know there is tannin support in there. Bursting with red fruits and life. Super wine."

Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot "Ungrafted Grenache from the Barossa, under cork, this saw maturation in older French oak barrels. The vines providing the fruit are over a century in age. Purple/mauve in colour, this is simply gorgeous. The aromas here weave throughout plums, strawberries and blackberries with coffee beans, soy and licorice. Seamless in structure, with very good focus and sleek tannins before a long, lingering finish. Love it."

Regan Drew, Wine Pilot "The fruit comes from a centurion (110 years old) vineyard on the banks of the Para River. Whole bunch fermentation and 9 months in old French barriques. Spice and jubey red fruit with coffee grounds, rose petals reinforced by a savoury vein of fresh turned earth and iron. Vibrant and delicate with raspberry crystal fruit ably supported by darker herbed nuances. Tannins are hyperfine and a wonderful frame through a long, long finish. Quite exceptional value."

Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion "Sourced from 100-year-old, dry-grown, ungrafted grenache vines aged for 9 months in old French oak. Wild strawberry, red plum and raspberry fruit notes with underlying hints of spice, gingerbread, rose petal, citrus blossom, white pepper and earth. Beautifully fine, sandy tannins provide the canvas, bright acidity the drive, there's a lot of enjoyment here; cellaring potential, too."

Melissa Moore, Wine Pilot "With layers of jubey raspberry fruit, cherry cola spice and a savoury stemmy element, this Barossa Valley Grenache is from rare century-old, ungrafted vines grown in deep sandy soils, and is whole bunch fermented in open vats and matured in old French barrels. With lingering cedary tannins, I find it the most savoury of Dean’s wines and a brilliant match for slow roasted porchetta."

Jeni Port, Wine Pilot "Old, dry-grown Grenache vines on own roots (ungrafted) are an increasing rarity, so a wine like this becomes a celebration of sorts. It makes for a powerful statement in that it isn’t a big wine but rather an intense, concentrated ball of the most delicious aromas and fruit flavours. Black cherry, juniper, rosemary, liquorice, a touch of clove and chocolate alight the aroma. Medium bodied, deep in fruit concentration and offset by fine tannins, the palate brings out the grape’s florals and herbal notes in league with plum and cherry. A flourish of sinewy, clean, astringent dryness to close. Great stuff."

Annette Lacey MW, Wine Pilot "As I was pouring this wine – the pale ruby tones hinted this was going to be a cracker. I am loving this new wave of ethereal Grenaches, and this wine does not disappoint! Whole bunch and old barriques sound good already. So so pretty, I was getting candy floss, crystalline violets and a lovely lightness on the palate. This airy Grenache has so much good about it and I am loving the light touch- pretty florals bound across the palate, fine powdery tannins support with a lick of baking spice oak while the constant violet prettiness ripples through the palate. Yum."

Winemaker "The grapes from these ungrafted Grenache vines were hand-picked, whole-bunch fermented in open vats, matured in old French barrels on lees then carefully racked and bottled as an exclusive cuvée."

100% Grenache

Australian Wine Companion "Established in 1998 Hewitson winery is situated in the heart of the Barossa Valley on the historic Seppeltsfield Road and boasts some of the oldest vines in the world. Hewitson fruit is sourced from historic, dry-grown vineyards in the Barossa Valley and also from single site vineyards in Eden Valley, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills."

Frederick Wildman "Dean Hewitson founded his eponymous winery in 1998. He is a highly respected Australian winemaker ...Hewitson has worked at wineries in Australia, France, Italy and Oregon. Hewitson then moved to the U.S. where he earned a Masters from UC-Davis. On his return home, Dean brought a wealth of knowledge, practical experience and a driving passion to produce wines not only from Barossa Valley, but also from the McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills regions.

Hewitson fundamentally believes great wines are the expression of the soils they are grown in and the season in which they are grown. With his longstanding focus on terroir—specific terroir plots in fact—many of Hewitson’s wines are single vineyard. He sources grapes from not only his own vineyards but also from long-standing grower contracts including a few sourced from some of the oldest living, still productive vines on plots that date back to the mid-19th century and are pre-phylloxera. His ‘Old Garden’ Mourvèdre is a single-vineyard wine, whose vines were planted in 1853 in Barossa Valley and are reputed to be the oldest Mourvèdre vines in the world. Hewitson’s ‘Miss Harry’ is sourced from a Grenache vineyard planted in 1880, also thought to be the oldest Grenache in existence.

Due to Hewitson’s education and experience in Australia, California and France, Hewitson wines combine Old-World traditions with New-World fruit purity. And while he clearly excels with Rhône Valley grape varieties, Hewitson also produces award-winning Sauvignon Blanc. A practitioner in solar energy, water recycling and encouraging natural biodiversity, Hewitson produces wines in an environmentally sustainable fashion."

James Halliday "Dean Hewitson was a winemaker at Petaluma [one of Australia's leading wineries] for 10 years, during which time he managed to do three vintages in France and one in Oregon as well as undertaking his Masters at the University of California, Davis. It is hardly surprising that the wines are immaculately made from a technical viewpoint. Dean sources 70-year-old shiraz from McLaren Vale; he also makes a Barossa Valley Mourvedre from vines planted in 1853 at Rowland Flat, and Barossa Valley Shiraz and Grenache from 60-year-old vines at Tanunda."

The Barossa Valley is an extremely important wine-producing region within the Barossa zone of South Australia, particularly associated with powerful red wines from the red wine grape variety Shiraz. A prestigious and internationally renowned region, it is not only home to some of the oldest vineyards and wineries in Australia but produces some of its most recognizable and sought-after brands. A striking feature of the Barossa Valley's wine landscape is the presence of very old vines, proudly showcased on many wine labels and during vineyard tours.