Hewitson, 1 fl. Old Garden "1853 Vines" + 1 fl. Ned & Henry's 2016

1 fl. Old Garden Single Vineyard "planted 1853" 2016, 97p / WineOrbit + 3 x 96p / 100, one of Australia's iconic and rarest wines +
1 fl. Ned & Henry's Shiraz 2017, Barossa, 95p / Halliday.
a total of 2 fl (total price).
The 7 rows of mourvèdre vines in the "Old Garden Vineyard" were planted in 1853 in the heart of the Barossa and were named "The Old Garden" in the 80s So the 1880s! The yield is almost 25 hl / ha, and it becomes a good 2500 fl / year of what Parker calls "one of the finest examples of old wines mourvèdre in the new world" (he has not tasted the wine since 2013). But also one of the rarest! The wine is black and intense, incredibly rich aroma, where new oak goes hand in hand with layers upon layers of fruit (mulberry, plum) and new French oak, which covers powerful, rich and velvety taste over round tannins. Great now, better in 4-10 + years.
"Ned & Henry's shiraz" comes from 3 plots in the Terra Rossa part of the Barossa and is named after Hewitson's two sons. The wine is made like Old Garden in the classic French way with almost a year in French oak, typically used before for Old Garden. It is sumptuous and delicious, with rich fruit and rounded, long taste.
Dean Hewitson became famous as the chief winemaker for Brian Croser in the 90s. Here he made pinot and chardonnay, but he discovered syrah, grenache and mourvèdre in the Rhône valley, where he worked briefly with Guigal and others. Back home, he said goodbye to pinot and in 1998 founded his own vineyard specializing in Rhône grapes, based on a series of plots with some of Australia's and the world's oldest vines. Small quantities, but large wines, characterized by malolactic fermentation in French oak. The quantities are still quite small and wines like Old garden are heavily rationed. Photo shows Dean in his beloved "Old Garden", with his wife Lulu in front of the basement as well as some of the new French oak barrels Old garden stores in.