| Charles Melton Wines | |
| Location | Tanunda, South Australia, Australia |
|---|---|
| Appellation | Barossa Valley (wine) |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Key people | Charles Melton Virginia Weckert |
| Cases/yr | 15,000 |
| Known for | Nine Popes |
| Varietals | Grenache, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Website | http://www.charlesmeltonwines.com.au |
Charles Melton Wines is an Australian winery based in Tanunda, within the Barossa Valley wine region of South Australia.
Contents |
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]
About 15,000 cases of wine are produced each vintage.[3]
The most well 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]