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WINERY RATING |
James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011 |
Description
The idea behind Hewitson The Mad Hatter Shiraz was born in 1988. Dean Hewitson was shut away in a tasting room with Len Evans, evaluating what Evans considered to be the best eight red wines in Australia at the time. As they looked at the different wines, Dean focused on descriptors, while Evans spoke of broader concepts like breeding, structure, power and the background story that gave these wines real context. This changed the way Dean thought about wine and is at the heart of everything Hewitson does today.
We've always thought the Old Garden Mourvèdre perfectly illustrated what Len Evans was talking about ‐ uniquely expressive wines from great old vineyards ‐ so the opportunity to do the same with Shiraz was too good to pass up. This opportunity finally came in 2002. The single vineyard between Seaview Ridge and Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale, cropping at a bit over 2 tonnes an acre has consistently delivered what we felt to be the true expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz. In 2002 it was exceptional, so the decision was made to refine and refocus what we did with it and The Mad Hatter was born.
We've thrown everything we've got at this wine. A huge amount of work has gone into finding the right barrels to support the fruit. We trialled a range of barrels from a small Burgundian cooper called Remond who was able to supply barriques using Nevers, Troncais, Allier and Bertranges oaks. Extensive barrel sampling every six months was undertaken to discover the ideal balance between forests and toast levels, while still giving full reign to the fruit. Each vintage we have made small but significant adjustments according to what the fruit demanded. The 2006 The Mad Hatter was aged for 21 months in new French oak intensifying flavour and complexity of the wine. This is what Dean reckons Evans meant by 'breeding'‐ responsive, evolutionary winemaking that's never locked into a formula.
Tasting Notes
2009 The Mad Hatter has tremendous carriage. This single vineyard wine exudes Old-World balance and elegance while striding easily with New-World freshness of the concentrated cassis fruit manifested by this north-western facing, sandy loam slope. After three weeks fermentation on skins the wine was then matured on its lees in 100% new French oak barriques for two years. This assemblage of oak included various toasting levels of forests of Troncais, Allier and Bertrange. The finish is long and multi-dimensional. This single vineyard Shiraz will cellar for 20 years. This wine illustrates our belief that great wine is expression of single vineyard and vintage.
450 dozen bottled. And finally a quick word on the name. Despite appearances it's not a ploy to grab some literary credibility and align Dean with Lewis Carroll. 'Hatter' is actually the nickname Dean's closest friends have used for years... and as for the 'Mad'... well those of you who've spent any more than 5 minutes with the man will surely understand.
Key Points
- Wine with breeding
- Single vineyard
- Nickname of Dean’s when he was a youngster
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