Hewitson Ned & Henry’s Barossa Shiraz 2006

A big, stunning wine for sure, the 2006 Hewitson Ned & Henry’s Barossa Shiraz (92% Shiraz/ 8% Mourvedre) reminds us of young Hermitage – the Rhône Valley’s greatest red. Although this rich, polished Barossa beauty has already begun to strut her stuff, she remains a sleeping giant. The 2006 Hewitson Ned & Henry’s Shiraz is packed with character, flavor, style, and plenty of ripe tannins, which most assuredly will pay added dividends if one can allow her a little extra time in bottle. Black fruits, cassis, smoke, licorice, and polished wood are just a few of the scents and savors that pour from the 2006 Ned & Henry’s Shiraz. And on the palate, this deep purple potion already possesses considerable complexity, depth, and hedonistic pleasure. Rich, but never sweet or over the top, this three-year old beauty exudes concentration and power as well as layers of ripe fruit. More reminiscent of the great Syrah based wines of southern France than so many of its jammy, overblown Barossa counterparts, the 2006 Hewitson Ned & Henry’s Shiraz is nothing short of a tour de force in winemaking. It can be drunk happily now by those who positively cannot wait. However, this wine will almost certainly continue to evolve and grow in depth and complexity if allowed to rest longer in bottle. We suggest giving this wine two more years in bottle before consuming it at cool room temperature or better still at cellar temperature (55º-60º F) after an hour or more of aeration….and remember this is only the beginning of a long and illustrious life for the 2006 Ned & Henry’s Shiraz, so why not stock up and enjoy!

It would be a shame to drink the 2006 Ned & Henry’s Shiraz with just any old meal. Consequently, we highly recommend dishes that are consummate with the rich quality and flavor of this special Shiraz. Hewitson’s great Shiraz based wines merit the highest grades of beef, lamb, and pork one can afford. An onion and manioc encrusted rack of lamb is one perennial favorite that gets our collective nod. Beef tenderloin, rubbed with fresh garlic and herbs, or a rich cassoulet, served alongside a splendid ratatouille, provide superb accompaniments to Hewitson’s tasty old vine Shiraz. As the Ned & Henry’s matures, it will complement an even greater array of foods, including stuffed veal chops and roast duck, so why not start planning the menu?

Hewitson has been the source of many of South Australia’s finest Shiraz and Rhône style wines, ever since Dean Hewitson launched his now famous winery in 1996. A graduate of Roseworthy, Australia’s premier School of Enology, Dean worked at Petaluma, one of Australia’s finest wineries, spent a couple of years at UC Davis where he completed his Masters, and experienced fifteen vintages worldwide before settling down to his own venture. Presently, Hewitson’s specialty is crafting wines for pure drinking pleasure, and this he does by procuring the finest old vine fruit from the best vineyards in South Australia and turning that fruit into magic in the bottle. In short, Dean Hewitson produces a formidable array of fine wines from pre-phylloxera vines, which means the vines all grow on their own original rootstock. The result is there is no other wine on earth that more closely resembles its original European ancestors than Hewitson’s. Hewitson’s top two Shiraz offerings are Ned & Henry’s and Mad Hatter selections from the Barossa and McLaren Vale areas of South Australia respectively. Both are outstanding and produced in limited quantities. In addition to crafting two of the most compelling old vine Shiraz offerings in all South Australia, Dean Hewitson also fashions a majestic old vines Mourvedre called Mourvedre Old Garden from a vineyard planted in 1853. If this be madness, please give us more.