MMAD
Blewitt Springs Shiraz
McLaren Vale
2022

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 Shiraz is a single-vineyard wine crafted from dry-grown bush vines planted in 1942 in the deep sands of Blewitt Springs, a prized subregion of McLaren Vale known for producing Shiraz with perfume, freshness, and finesse. Made by a team of leading Australian wine figures: Martin Shaw, Michael Hill Smith MW, Adam Wadewitz, and David LeMire MW, the wine is gently handled in the winery to preserve site expression, with minimal intervention and maturation in a mix of new and seasoned French oak.

MMAD Shiraz is medium to full bodied, with lifted aromatics of red and blue fruits, crushed herbs, and florals, underpinned by fine sandy tannins and bright acidity. It is a contemporary expression of old-vine McLaren Vale Shiraz, vibrant, detailed, and built for both early drinking and graceful ageing.

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.