MMAD
Blewitt Springs Chenin Blanc
McLaren Vale
2023

The producer

MMAD is a remarkable wine project born from the combined vision of four respected names in Australian wine: Shaw + Smith’s Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW, Tolpuddle’s Adam Wadewitz, and David LeMire MW. The name MMAD represents their initials, but also hints at the slightly “mad” ambition behind the venture. In 2021, they acquired a 15-hectare vineyard in Blewitt Springs, one of the most prized subregions of McLaren Vale, South Australia. The site features dry-grown bush vines, with some plantings of Grenache and Shiraz dating back to 1939 and 1942 respectively, and Chenin Blanc from the 1960s, making it a rare and precious piece of viticultural heritage. MMAD's goal is to honour these old vines through sensitive farming and restrained winemaking that highlights the energy and texture of the site. Their wines are characterful, site-expressive, and already establishing a cult following for their focus, freshness and depth, particularly the MMAD Grenache, Shiraz and Chenin Blanc.

The wine

MMAD Blewitt Springs Chenin Blanc is a single-vineyard wine made from dry-grown bush vines planted in the 1960s on the sandy soils of Blewitt Springs, a distinctive subregion of McLaren Vale. Chenin Blanc is rarely seen in this part of Australia, making this an especially unique expression. Crafted by the experienced team of Martin Shaw, Michael Hill Smith MW, Adam Wadewitz, and David LeMire MW, the wine is made with a light touch, whole-bunch pressed, wild fermented, and matured in old French oak and ceramic eggs to preserve texture and purity.

MMAD Chenin Blanc is bright and textural, with notes of citrus zest, green apple, hay and subtle spice. Its finely woven acidity and mineral drive give the wine a precise, energetic feel. A fresh, characterful take on a heritage variety, this Chenin Blanc is both vibrant and food-friendly, with excellent potential to develop further complexity with time in bottle.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.