HISTORY

Since the first vintage of Charles Melton Wines in 1984, this small Barossa Valley winery has gained both national and international recognition for its premium red table wines.

The wines move from a light red, ‘The Rose of Virginia’, described by Anthony Rose in London’s Observer newspaper as, ‘The Best Rosé in Australia’, through to Australia’s premier Rhone-style red, ‘Nine Popes’. Charlie Melton also makes small quantities of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sparkling Shiraz, and is the only Australian producer of a vin-santo styled dessert wine, Sotto di Ferro.

Charlie was one of the first to recognize the value and tradition of the Barossa’s old vineyard Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. At a time when others were pulling out vineyards of Shiraz to plant more fashionable varieties, Charlie was convincing farmers to keep their historic vineyards. He was one of a small group of winemakers who helped retain the viticultural heritage of the Barossa.

Answers to some frequently-asked questions

� Who is Charles Melton?

To cut a long story short …A boy from Sydney named Graeme Melton, arrived in the Barossa Valley in 1973. Graeme and a mate needed jobs to fix their broken-down EH Holden ute to continue their road trip across Australia. There were two jobs going – one as a cellarhand at a local winery called Krondorf, and another pruning at a vineyard down the road. They flipped a coin – Graeme got the cellarhand job.

At Krondorf he met Barossa winemaking legend Peter Lehmann (chief winemaker for the Dalgety group, Stonyfeld and Saltram), and moved with Peter when he set up his new winery 6 years later. Lehmann refused to call his protégé “Graeme�, hence “Charlie� was born - and has stuck!

Just to speed this up a bit… During the next 10 years, ‘Charlie’ honed his winemaking skills under Lehmann – and met his wife-to-be, Virginia. Fast enough? In that time, he also travelled to France, and developed the beginnings of what would become a life-long passion for the wines of the Rhone Valley – in particular the Southern Rhone where Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre are blended with up to 11 other varieties, as in the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation.

In 1984, Charlie purchased his first grapes to be made under the new “Charles Melton� label – and produced a Sparkling Red from old vines, dry-grown in the Barossa. He soon splashed out again – this time purchasing 13 acres of Grenache and Shiraz. At that time, he also built the cellar door (“the barn�) and winery which still stands today in Krondorf Road, just outside Tanunda, in the valley of Barossa, in the state of South Australia.


� How was the Nine Popes born?

Around the time that Charlie was building his new winery and cellar door in Krondorf Road, the Australian Government was paying grape growers to pull out their old Barossa Shiraz and Grenache vines (known today as “the great vine-pull scheme�). The varieties had become unfashionable – Grenache being used mainly for cheap, high alcohol, fortified wines; Shiraz (in the darkest times) being made into Shiraz berry muffins.

However Charlie, having seen the possibilities for Grenache and Shiraz in his travels throughout France, started experimenting in the vineyard. He began to prune the old vines harder so they would produce lower yields, and therefore concentrate more energy into fewer berries. All these vineyards are “dry-grown� – a strategy of not irrigating the vines, so they produce intense, concentrated flavours, undiluted by water. Decades of carbohydrates stored in their trunks will see the vines through the tough (read dry) years.


� Why Nine Popes?

Chateauneuf du Pape, the stuff upon which Nine Popes is based, when translated to English means “Castle of the new Pope�, as it was the home to the alternate papacy (read French Pope!!) in the 13th Century.

But in many of the old languages the word “neuf� can mean both “nine� and “new�. After Charlie had made the wine that was to become the first (as yet unnamed) Nine Popes, he cast around for clues to help him arrive at a name – as calling a wine “Charles Melton Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre� back in the ‘80s would have created as much excitement as (insert own local comparison here!!).

So, drawing on really the only classic Grenache area in the world (yes, we know Spain etc grow lots of Grenache but not too many wines, if any, have worldwide recognition), he looked at Chateauneuf du Pape and decided to give it a little Aussie twist and avoid litigation with the French.

Problem was, his French skills were a tad light on (non-existent!!) and he thought Chateauneuf du Pape meant home of the “Nine� Popes... ‘nuff said?!!

Well, actually, there are many more minor examples of Charlie’s language skill but we won’t go there!!