Hewitson Ungrafted Grenache 2023

Century-old, dry grown, ungrafted Grenache vines produce a wine with quite a distinctive Italian-esque savoury touch. There’s that bitter herbal amaro scent, wild and earthy, mixing it with maraschino cherry, plum, clay pot and spice. That earthiness comes to the fore on the palate with a strong thread of wild, bitter herbs and earth winding a way across dark fruits, pepper and spice, with accompanying hints of game meats. Grapes were whole bunch fermented in open vats for three weeks and finished in seasoned French barriques before maturation in the same oak for nine months. Winemaking has certainly imparted a distinctive style to this Barossa Grenache with dry, sinewy tannins continuing an Italian-style feel through to the finish. 

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic