Call me cynical, but I don’t quite track the hype behind this Hewitson Monopole Shiraz 2019.

This is the winery blurb for the fruit source.

‘The Monopole vineyard is exclusively owned and controlled by Hewitson. It is a Sélection Clonale from one ancient surviving Shiraz vine planted in 1853 and resurrecting an ancient clone of pre-Phylloxera Shiraz.’

So, in other words, it’s a vineyard that has been grafted over to a cutting from a vine planted in 1853. The rootstock is 30 years old, but it’s not stated when the new clone was grafted on top. The vines themselves aren’t 170 years old. Semantics, perhaps, but we’re talking about a $150 wine.

How does it taste? Smoky dark berry fruit, sausage, burnt raspberry, plum. Plenty going on, with no shortage of dark fruit but it’s also faintly bitter and a little less than super pristine. There is intensity here, but it’s not profound – more just a solid Barossan Shiraz. For reference, I opened this up with a bottle of the Torzi Matthews I wrote about earlier in the week, and they didn’t feel like peers.

Best drinking: within the next ten years. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14%, $150. Hewitson website. Would I buy it? No.