There’s a fantastic 45-year-old vineyard on the northwest corner of Long Gully and Seaview roads in McLaren Vale, cropping at a bit over 2 tonnes an acre that has been the core of the L’Oizeau since its inception.

The fruit coming off this vineyard consistently delivered what Dean felt to be the true expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz. This wine morphed into the Mad Hatter in 2002 probably because not many people could get their tongue around the name although this multilayered wine did not suffer the same fate…

Production was, not surprisingly, small – and the wine on offer has been stored in temperature and humidity controlled conditions since purchase in 2003. Released at $36 retail in 2003, the current vintage of the Mad Hatter is $70 at the Cellar Door…

We are offering this wine by the dozen for $359.40 ($29.95 per bottle). Unbelievable value for this classic mature McLaren Vale Shiraz…

This is what James Halliday has to say about the wine:
“Complex, spicy blackberry fruit and oak aromas; a super-elegant, graceful palate of black fruits, dark chocolate and fine tannins. Best Drinking to 2016 – 94 points

To order a case of the 2001 Hewitson l’Oizeau please contact us on 02 9264 3022 or by email to simon@oakbarrel.com.au.

We have the worlds best range of back vintage Hewitson premium reds including Old Garden, Mad Hatter and Private Cellar… if you what you’re looking for is not here, please contact us as we have additional stock in our wine vault at another location.

Next week will be our Penfolds Bin Clearance Sale.  These are great wines, many of which are back vintage.  Despite the quality of these wonderful wines, unfortunately we cannot compete on price with the supermarkets so we’ve made the decision to no longer stock them.   We will be offering these wines at fantastic prices for a limited time only.

We will then turn our attention back to promoting boutique producers from Australia and abroad.

See the full listing here and call us on (02) 9264 3022 to place your order