Meshach William Burge (1843 – 1942) was Grant’s great grandfather and a central figure in establishing the Burge family’s winemaking tradition. He was 11 when his family moved from Hillcot in Wiltshire, England, to the Barossa Valley and established what has grown into a thriving viticultural, wheat and sheep property near Lyndoch. In tribute, Grant has selected his finest Shiraz to bear his name and be his flagship wine. Since the first vintage in 1988, Meshach has won several of Australia’s top trophies and many medals. It is generally regarded as one of the country’s best dry reds.

The fruit for this iconic wine is handpicked from near century old vines. Smaller parcels are also sourced from even older premium vines in the Barossa to add further complexity to the wine. There is a portion that comes from younger vines in different sub regions in the Barossa that have amazing flavour and colour profiles. The aged vines produce fruit with tremendous concentration and intensity that make Meshach powerful, yet beautifully balanced. After the dry vintages of 2007, 2008 and 2009, 2010 was a welcome relief with good winter rains and a mild summer allowing even ripening and retention of natural acidity as well as the development of concentrated flavours. The wines already released from this vintage have proven outstanding, and we believe the 2010 Meshach will follow suit.

Winemaking using such special old grapes is kept very simple. After crushing the wines remain in the fermenters for between 6 to 9 days, depending on the extraction required. Most of the wine for Meshach is basket pressed and then fermented in open and static fermenters. The tanks are pumped over 3 times a day with the pump over times reduced from 30 mins to 15 mins as fermentation progresses. After pressing, the wine is allowed to settle for 24 hours prior to filling in new French (20%) and American (40%) oak barrels with the balance predominantly one and two year old American and French oak. All of the wine completes malolactic fermentation in barrel. Meshach spends a minimum of 18 months in oak prior to bottling. It is un-fined and only passes through a coarse cartridge filter prior to bottling.