Grant Burge as a brand might have only started in the 1980's, however, in reality the Burge family have been winegrowers for five (and now, six) generations, dating back to 1865, having settled in the heart of Australia's Barossa Valley.

The Burge Family Reborn

For several generations, the Burge family had taken part in the historic boom in producing fortified wines - apera as they are known in Australia - however, by the time fifth-generation Grant Burge was of age to take over the business, times had changed, and his mother had much to everyone's surprise, disallowed her son from joining the family business. Fortified wines weren't nearly as popular as the now fast rising superstars that produced drinking table wines.

Grant Burge and his son, Trent.

This proved to be prescient, and thus if Grant was to continue the family tradition of being a vigneron himself, by his mother's rules, he had to strike it out on his own. With the support of his father, Grant would start producing wines from his own vineyards in the early 1970's; his father would show him the ropes around what was needed to develop and manage a vineyard of his own. Grant would eventually gain the confidence to team up with a partner, Ian Wilson, to produce wines in McLaren Vale - now this was McLaren Vale before it became the McLaren Vale.

The Midas Touch

In a bit of a lucky break, Grant had come to play cricket with the manager of a local Krondorf Winery, who in turn would offer Grant the opportunity to produce his wines in their cellars. Nevertheless, within just a few years, as it was with most wineries in the region, it was to be put on sale as most wineries then were simply losing too much money. Grant would pluck up the courage to bet the farm on the winery - in 1978, Grant Burge and Ian Wilson would get the keys to the old Krondorf Winery.

Winemaking at a Barossa icon. 

In a demonstration of their massive efforts, Burge and Wilson had demonstrated that with the right moves, they were able to produce some incredible wines there - they would begin to pick up trophies in national Australian wine competitions. Even the behemoth that is Wolfgang Blass (of the well-known Wolf Blass brand of wines) would call them up and congratulate them on their success! The outstanding success quickly lured other wine companies that wanted a piece of the pie, and along the way, Grant was able to continue to add to his vineyard holdings - today Grant Burge is the largest owner of vineyards in Southern Barossa!

Today Grant Burge belongs to the Accolade stable of wine brands, with Grant Burge and his family continuing to focus on managing their vineyards, producing the fruit, and making the wines.

Into The Grant Burge Vineyards And Cellars

With its history told, let's get into Grant Burge's vineyards and cellars. 

Situated in the Barossa Valley, the region is 200-250m above sea level, with a terroir characterised by rich and deep, red-brown alluvial soils that are most ideal for red wines. The climate here is that of cold and wet winters, with lots of generous spring rains, along with warmer summers and autumns that help the vines dry off and ripen, this all works to produce incredibly ripe and full-bodied fruit.

The Barossa produces ripe and rich reds, with fuller bodied whites.

As mentioned earlier, Grant Burge himself was able to build upon the success of his wines to continue to grow the winery's footprint across the Barossa Valley, with numerous key vineyards providing fruit for Grant Burge's wines, amongst which are the Filsell vineyard, Hillcot, Cameron Vale and Eden Valley for the whites. Through these substantive vineyard holdings, Grant Burge is able to produce a wine range of red and white wines, from local classics like Shiraz, to international favourites such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and even Riesling! There's also classic Aussie fortified wines such as Apera, and also a range of sparkling wines. Winemaking today is led by Craig Stansborough who's been with Grant Burge since 1993.

With all that said, it's time to try some Grant Burge wines! Today we'll be trying Grant Burge's icon and most popular wines - we have the supremely popular and great value Barossa Ink Shiraz, the Filsell that comes from a single vineyard of the same name, and then the historic Shadrach and Meshach that's name after key members of the Burge family.

Let's go!  

Wine Review: Grant Burge Barossa Ink Shiraz 2023

This Shiraz comes Grant Burge's Ink Collection that's designed to be wallet-friendly without sacrificing on quality - what's the catch? Well, here we're not looking for anything with ageing potential, this is designed to be enjoyed young, so that's perfect for those who don't want to do any cellaring, and of course this isn't something single vineyard or terroir driven. Here we have fruit sourced from across the Barossa, made to be a daily drinker, anytime wine. 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Ruby

Aroma: Incredibly deep and perfumed, it's rich and confectionary, with super ripe and juicy scents of cherry pies topped with vanilla sauce. It's big, bold and intensely rich of a bouquet on the nose.

Taste: The super richness persists here, incredibly consistent of cherry pie topped with vanilla sauce. It's full-bodied, plush and silky, with a great depth as well. It's incredibly intense and perfumed even on the body, with these bold and confectionary qualities. Yet at the same time it still feels muscularly structured, filled in with such elegance.

Finish: The cherry pie and vanilla sauce carries through to finish, just as rich, just as intense, just as bold.

My Thoughts

Damn! Immediately it's obvious why Grant Burge's Barossa Ink Shiraz is so popular - for the price this pounds so far above its weight! It packs such intensity, juicy richness, and fullness of body, with these incredibly ripe and confectionary persistent aromas and flavours of cherry pie topped with vanilla sauce that powers from the nose to the palate and finish. It's vibrant, big and bold, superbly forward, and considering that this has been aged for just 1 year, it's already rearing to be enjoyed right now. What I also love is how despite how ripe and full it is, it doesn't feel like there's any sacrifice in terms of structure or elegance, with this perfumed quality about it and a masculine frame. It's distinct, focused and straightforwardly enjoyable.

Bottomline, it's big, juicy and beautifully rich and elegant, all packed in a ready to crack open bottle. If you're having something big like a steak dinner - this is it.

Wine Review: Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2020

Next up, we have the Filsell that comes from Grant Burge's Wines of Distinction Collection. This is single vineyard, so you're getting everything from solely the FIlsell vineyard in the Barossa Valley. The fruit here comes from 100 year old vines that offer a distinct taste of the Filsell vineyard, and it's also got ageing potential, so this is something you can readily stash away. This is fully Shiraz from the 2020 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: It's brighter here, there's that lush richness of cherry pie with vanilla frosting, joined by some darker notes of chocolates here. There's a big and intense vanilla frosting quality about it. A subtly spiced quality about it as well with some nutmeg. It's really confectionary, full, yet with a completeness about its complexity with both brighter and darker top and base scents. With time, more on red licorice begins to emerge.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's still giving big notes of cherry pie and vanilla sauce, here with more of a brighter tartness, with some acidity coming through that holds up against the big, decadent confectionary flavours. There's more on chocolate at the base, with cooked plums and figs, mixed in with some baking spices. It feels more silky here, with the tannins fine and gently grainy. It's almost satin like in texture, with also more definition and a tauter, more energetic structure.

Finish: More on black pepper, some cloves too. That cherry pie and vanilla sauce persists into the finish, weaved in with some darker chocolate. The richness powers all the way through to a long and plush finish.

My Thoughts

Where the Barossa Ink was big, decadent and super ripe, the Filsell definitely came through with more complexity and definition. It's just as rich, bold and intense, yet here you get a sense of the nuances, with its outline much more traceable. The tannins are definitely more prominent here, giving it this satin-like texture on the palate, which is of course indicative that the Filsell has that ageing quality, where it'll open up more with time, and take on some more tertiary notes that characterise the vineyard's terroir more definitively.

Here there's also more in terms of the breadth of flavours that you'll find - there's more chocolate, more baking spices, more plums and figs, it's all fleshed out and surfaced because the Filsell prizes elegance and structure, as opposed to having this hyper ripened, super decadent body. This has more structure, more elegance, more complexity -and it does indeed hold up perfectly. You still of course find those Barossa confectionaries, but this feels much more grown up.

Wine Review: Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz 2019

Now we come to the most prized of the lot - this is the Meshach Shiraz from the 2019 vintage. This is from Grant Burge's Icon Collection, and is so named after Grant's forefather who had first settled in the Barossa, who in turn was named after one of the three Biblical loyal faithfuls.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Ruby

Aroma: Big on red fruits, with heaps of cherry pie, raspberry jams, as well as that confectionary vanilla sauce. There's some subtle dark chocolate at the core, with more florals of roses outlining the bouquet. It comes off as elegant, textured and complete. It's a bouquet with layers of different aromatics and depth, all of which is expressive yet firm.

Taste: There's more immediate acidity here, it's more tart, with freshly crushed raspberries, it's also giving raspberry pie topped with vanilla ice cream. The roses continue to come through as well. The tannins are even more firm and taut here, also much more tightly packed. It retains that confectionary quality, yet here it's chiselled and far more textured. There's a subtle graininess of coffee grounds and cacao nibs that fills the body, along with those raspberry tarts and vanilla frosting.

Finish: Those brighter and more perfumed raspberries persist into the finish, along with that hit of vanilla sauce. There's a more earthy quality here that emerges, with tobacco leaves that deepens the finish, and at the same time provides this aromatic lift.

My Thoughts 

Three Shiraz, all from the Barossa, and each one has brought on new layers of complexity and elegance, whilst all retaining that same ripened, juicy, decadent confectionary quality!

Yet somehow this one feels the most indicative of the full nature of the Barossa, it feels the most expressive and well-developed of the lot, with such complexity, structure and presence. The confectionaries of fruit jams, fruit pies and vanilla sauce are still present, yet here they play the most balanced of roles, sitting alongside florals, earthiness and acidity. This almost has that feeling of being competition-ready, it's Barossa at its Sunday best.

And to that end, I feel like we could at this level compare it to other classic red profiles that are representative of key wine growing regions. For me, this sits somewhere between Old World Bordeaux and New World Napa Valley. It has that floral elegance and earthiness that we tend to find in classic French reds, with also that confectionary red fruit ripeness, as well as that more zingy acidity that we tend to find with the American reds - yet together this is 100% Aussie. A beautiful display right here! This one feels like a real showpiece!

Wine Review: Grant Burge Shadrach Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Three Shiraz's in, and we're going to finally switch it up! We're going to try Grant Burge's Shadrach Cabernet Sauvignon from the Icon Collection. The fruit that has gone into the Shadrach comes from two vastly different areas of the Barossa - the cooler and more high altitude Eden Valley, as well as the more temperate and lower altitude Southern Barossa.

The name itself Shadrach comes from an extension to the origin of the name Meshach, with Shadrach being one of the two other Biblical faithful loyals, along with Abednego, which is also another cuvee from Grant Burge's Icon Collection that features Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre, following closer to the style of France's Rhone Valley.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Ruby

Aroma: Readily fruit driven, stewed dark cherries, raspberry jams, blackcurrant, with also a surrounding floral quality of irises, violets and roses. With time there's also some orange blossoms outlining the nose. Here there's a good richness, still with that overt ripeness and depth, yet with a wider set of aromas garnishing the nose. The florals give it an almost perfumed potpourri quality that spans quite the spectrum. 

Taste: A good richness here, with that classic combination of roses, freshly toiled soil, as well brighter raspberries. It's well-integrated and bounded, rather evocative, yet at the same time more tame and balanced. Medium-bodied here.

Finish: Alittle bit more herbal and green, on green bell peppers, with a minty touch of eucalyptus. The raspberries carry all the way through the finish.

My Thoughts 

This was classically Cab Sauv with that body of roses, raspberries, and alittle bit of earthy soil, always feels like you're in a springtime garden. Here it's got good richness, certainly more structured, it's not jammy or flabby, with only some indications of the Australian ripeness taking its shine on the nose, giving it this outstanding vibrant floral quality about it. On the palate, it's structured, more lean, with firm yet soft tannins, taking a slightly more green and herbal turn into the finish. The fruits have good intensity and carry all the way through to the finish as well.

What impresses me most here is that full spectrum of florals that come through on the nose, with a good integration with the wide set of fruits that come through as well. It's like a cornucopia of this vibrant yet diverse array of fruits and florals that are rather unique to this Cab Sauv.