Charles Melton Wines

34°33′38″S 138°58′06″E / 34.560612°S 138.968275°E / -34.560612; 138.968275

Charles Melton Wines
LocationTanunda, South Australia, Australia
AppellationBarossa Valley (wine)
Founded1986
Key peopleCharles Melton
Virginia Weckert
Cases/yr15,000
Known forNine Popes
VarietalsGrenache, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon
Websitehttp://www.charlesmeltonwines.com.au

Charles Melton Wines is an Australian winery based in Tanunda, within the Barossa Valley wine region of South Australia.

History

90-year-old Grenache vines at Charles Melton Winery

Charles Melton was first introduced to winemaking as a career at Hurlstone Agricultural High School.[1]

Melton worked as a cellar hand at Krondorf Wines between 1974 and 1976, before moving to Saltram Wines to work with Andrew Wigan and Peter Lehmann.[1]

In 1979 Saltram was sold to Seagram and Melton followed Lehmann to work at the newly established Peter Lehmann Wines.[1]

Melton continued work at Peter Lehmann Wines until 1986 when he and his wife Virginia established Charles Melton Wines.[1]

Charles Melton has been credited as "single-handedly reviving the grenache grape in Australia".[2]

On 20 October 2007, Melton was inducted into the "Barons of the Barossa", an organisation that recognises people that have made a significant contribution to the Barossa Valley wine community.[1]

Wines

About 15,000 cases of wine are produced each vintage.[3]

The best known wine produced by Charles Melton is the Nine Popes. It is a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre.[4] The first vintage of this wine was produced in 1988,[5] and it was the first GSM blend made in the Barossa Valley.[6] Langton's Classification of Australian Wine placed this wine at the level of "Excellent" in 2000 and "Distinguished" in 2005 and 2010.[7]

A rosé style wine made from Grenache, and named Rose of Virginia after his wife[5] "is regarded as one of Australia's best roses".[8][9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Charles Melton". Barons of the Barossa. 20 October 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  2. ^ "New York Times – EN ROUTE: Australia; One Superstar Wine Deserves Another". The New York Times. 13 October 1999. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Australian Wine Companion – Charles Melton". 34.5536730000,138.9530640000: Winecompanion.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ "Barossa rides again". Independent.co.uk. 3 February 1996. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Charles Melton". Langtons.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  6. ^ Halliday, James (2006). Wine Atlas of Australia. University of California Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-520-25031-4.
  7. ^ "Langton's Classification History". Langtons.com.au. 14 July 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Think pink: the future's looking rose for Australian wine". SMH. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  9. ^ Brook, Stephen (1 February 2002). "A welcome change". Decanter. Retrieved 21 September 2011.