Description
MMAD Vineyard at Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale is an important part of Australia’s viticultural heritage, still productive and home to varieties originally planted in the 1930s, 1940s and 1960s. MMAD Vineyard’s wines reflect the unique terroir of Blewitt Springs and the character, concentration and longevity of the older vines. The vineyard has been planted between 60 and 85 years ago: Grenache was planted in 1939, Shiraz in 1941 and Chenin Blanc in 1964. In early 2021 the vineyard was purchased by four wine professionals: Martin Shaw, Michael Hill Smith MW, Adam Wadewitz and David LeMire MW. Martin and Michael, who are cousins, are best known for the Shaw+Smith winery they founded in the Adelaide Hills in 1989, while Adam and David are joint managing directors of Shaw+Smith. The MMAD vineyard is named after the initials of its owners (Martin, Michael, Adam, David).
The philosophy of the people at MMAD is to continuously improve the health of the soil and plants and encourage biodiversity. The fine sandy soils of Blewitt Springs give the wines a wonderful aromatic character, while the subsoil consists of ironstone which gives the wines excellent structure and complexity. This was the element that fascinated the four partners and made them invest in this vineyard. The rare soils, the sea breeze that comes from the Gulf of St Vincent in the southwest and cools the vines, and the age of the plants complete the viticultural picture.
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