Winemaker Charlie Melton
Blend 54% Grenache, 44% Shiraz & 2% Mataro (aka Mouvedre).
Despite being in the market for so long, Charlie Melton still has something new to offer. Charlie’s wines are not your usual burly Barossa beasts. Instead, they have wonderful balance and freshness, with the use of French oak giving them a supple texture and balance that few Barossa wines have. As Charlie’s fame has grown, he has continued to move forward. He was one of the first producers to put his top red wines under stelvin as he is convinced the wine will age more gradually and consistently. This has certainly proved the case so far, and his superb 2005 Nine Popes is showing brilliantly.
Charles Melton Wines has produced premium Barossa red wines since 1984. Charlie and a small band of Barossa winemakers turned their winemaking efforts to what were then considered a couple of unfashionable varieties: Shiraz and Grenache. These wines were initially styled on those from the Rhône but are now considered leading examples of the varieties in their own right. The wines have always attracted national and international recognition, and an enduring commitment to dry farmed vineyards and careful crafting of the wine will ensure that this continues.
The Grenache fruit in this blend comes principally from old dry grown bush vines, the Barossa being one of the last areas that contains such a rich resource. The Shiraz and Mourvèdre are a mix of trellis grown and bush vines of similar age. After only an average budburst, good summer rains and mild ripening conditions enabled an unexpectedly large crop of excellent quality, with good natural acidity and low pH in most varieties. Weather conditions during vintage were ideal. Whilst bunch numbers were generally down, bunch and berry sizes were up. There were no significant reports of disease and the fruit quality for winemaking was excellent.
Charlie Melton uses a range of different techniques in the Nine Popes, including whole bunch fermentation, along with de-stemmed but uncrushed fruit. Oak ageing was in mostly French barriques for 16-18 months before being blended and given a light filtration to bottling. No fining agents are used.
2005 was characterised by good natural acidity, which serves not only to balance the fruit and tannin in the wine, but also to accentuate the perfumes. The 2005 Nine Popes has a musky, spicy perfume giving way to a plump ripe fruit from the Grenache and good structure lent by the naturally more tannic Shiraz. Long and intense through to the finish which ends on a silky raspberry note.