2024 MMAD Vineyard Blewitt Springs Shiraz, McLaren Vale

This has been the surprise packet of the MMAD wines, with it duelling for position with the grenache and chenin blanc. Some whole bunch, concrete and oak vat for ferment, then raised in older, larger oak, as usual. Saint-Joseph resonances. Evocatively aromatic and spicily so. Smoky, darkly mineral. Blackberry pastille, tapenade, lavender, grilled game meat, crème de violette, iodine and nori, star anise, ground clove, allspice, green and black peppercorns, malted barley, freshly ground coffee, powdery rust. Like the grenache, the nose holds such intrigue, demands attention. That’s matched by the silky flow of the old-vine fruit on the palate and the superfine natural tannin. This is blisteringly good, again. Drink to 2036.

97+ points Special Value Marcus Ellis for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

Blewitt Springs is an island, part of McLaren Vale and yet separate, thanks to its Maslin sands and iron rich soils. Year after year, decade after decade, it gets its moment to shine with Shiraz. Here, florals swirl amid dark spices, black tea scents and dark cherry, plum. It’s a complex introduction. Black peppery notes lead the way into a rich, highly spiced palate laced in florals and delivered on a bed of ripe dark berries with background leather notes and hints of nutty vanillin. Quite a stunning array of fruit concentration and intensity with real energy in those savoury firm and integrated tannins. Drink to 2038.

97 points Jeni Port for Wine Pilot, July 2026

Very deep colour, dark and purply, the bouquet loaded at first sniff with smoky reduction backed by graphite, tar, blackstrap licorice and black pepper, plum and blackberry. A floral lift emerged with time in the glass. The tannins are firm and strongly gripping: this is a tremendously concentrated and power-packed shiraz that needs time and will be very long lived. Incredibly impressive. Leave it for at least two years and preferably more. Drink to 2044.

97 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, June 2026

MMAD Vineyard is a collaboration between wine identities Michael Hill Smith MW, Martin Shaw, Adam Wadewitz and David LeMire MW.

At the heart of it is a old vine vineyard in Blewitt Springs. This is an elevated part of the McLaren Vale defined by its fine and well-draining Maslin sand soils, and in the MMAD vineyard, the subsoils consisting of a layer of ironstone pebbles.

The Grenache vines in the vineyard were planted in 1939, and stand next to Shiraz and Chenin Blanc vines, the oldest of which were planted in 1941 and 1964 respectively. The tiny parcel of Cabernet Sauvignon is very much a support act here.