Hewitson Favourite Child Barossa Valley Mourvèdre 2020

Winemaker Dean Hewitson loves Mataro (or Mourvèdre, as he calls it) – it’s his ‘favourite child’. So much so, that he has managed to acquire what is considered the oldest working Mataro vineyard in the world. It’s the ‘Old Garden’ vineyard, originally planted in 1853 in the Barossa’s Rowland Flat district. At Hewitson, “the wines are immaculately made from a technical viewpoint” (Halliday). Dean Hewitson was a winemaker at Petaluma for 10 years, before setting up on his own. His ‘Favourite Child’ offers “gorgeously lifted perfumes with notes of mulberries, cloves, bay leaves and dried herbs” (Ken Gargett), whilst the “succulent palate displays fleshy texture and silky tannins, leading to a wonderfully long expansive finish” (Sam Kim at Wine Orbit.) It’s a lavish drop that needs rich food to accompany it … try a rustic French style lamb roast.