25Years of Grant Burge Wines
Grant Burge – Australian Vigneron The Grant Burge Wines story started in March 1855, when English tailor John Burge immigrated to the Barossa in South Australia from Hillcot, near Pewsey in Wiltshire, England with his wife Eliza and their two sons, Meshach and Henry. The Barossa had been colonised by farmers from England in 1842 and Silesia (Prussia) and in its second decade of white settlement, its 20,000 acres of fertile soils and its Mediterranean climate of
Meshach Burge
warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters were proving to be perfect for horticulture and viticulture. John worked as a Winemaker at Hillside Vineyards and his love of viticulture was passed onto his son Meshach who continued the tradition, making his first wine in 1865 whilst at the same time becoming a prominent community leader. He married Emma Springbett in 1883 and they had eight children. The Burge winemaking journey started when Meshach and Emma’s first-born son, Percival established the family’s Wilsford Winery near Lyndoch in 1928. After the Second World War, the enterprise was expanded by Grant’s father Colin and in 1953 his Uncle Noel joined the business. Wilsford Winery quickly became known for its aged fortifieds. It was in the Wilsford winery that Grant learnt that as a fifth generation Burge, wine was flowing through his veins. “I grew up loving the fertility and green abundance of the family vineyards, the excitement of the annual vintage when the grapes were crushed and fermented by cellar workers who were carrying on century old traditions, and then the rich aromas of the fortified casks in the old Wilsford cellars,” Grant said. Undertaking his winemaking apprenticeship in other South Australian regions during the 1970s, Grant soon showed a natural ability to create red and white wines with great depth of flavour and longevity. So when the old Krondorf winery in the Barossa came on the market he couldn’t resist the challenge and purchased it with a colleague Ian Wilson and four Adelaide businessmen. It was to be the first of many entrepreneurial moves by this visionary Australian winemaker that paid off. The duo won their first Jimmy Watson Trophy – Australia’s most prestigious wine award – with a 1979 Cabernet Sauvignon. Krondorf rapidly became a respected premium wine brand name and in 1985, was acquired by Mildara in a hostile take-over.
Grant Burge Wines 25 years old and Barossa Weintal 40 years old Our two great Barossa companies have alot in common. Be sure to check out our extensive range of Grant Burge Wine available at our well stocked bottle shop. ..or enjoy a glass of Grant Burge while dining with us.
Grant pruning his Krondorf vineyard in 1990. In 1988, with his wife Helen, Grant opened his eponymously named business, Grant Burge Wines, just down the road from Krondorf. “I am a romantic, and I have a real sense of my family history, of my father and grandfather and great-grandfather, and what they achieved,” Grant said. “So I felt the decision to start my own winery was my destiny to cement once and for all the connection between the Burge name and Australian winemaking that my great-grandfather Meshach had started.” Choosing the Barossa was also no accident. “My other passionate belief was that the Barossa deserved to be recognised as one of the greatest wine regions in the world and I wanted to be a significant part of its future,” he said. “There are few other regions in the world even in Europe, that have such treasure troves of old pre-phylloxera vines which produce wines with such amazing colour, flavour and intensity. “We also have an unbroken lineage of more than 170 years of viticulture, winemaking and intellectual property which can’t be replicated.”
As fate or luck or good planning had it, the next 10 years were to be the golden era for Australian wine internationally. The fruit driven styles of Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet from the Barossa provided a contrast with Old World French and Italian reds, and Grant Burge Wines was one of the leaders. “Suddenly Helen and I were spending as much time in London, Paris and Rome as we were in the winery in the Barossa,” Grant said. “We found that Europeans warmed to the relaxed way Australians do business and of course they had never tasted wines like ours.” Grant could also see that with the seemingly insatiable world demand for Barossa wine, supply would become the biggest challenge. So during the mid to late 1980s he strategically purchased many of the older, well-established Barossa vineyards that retiring growers were selling. “I had grown up with many of these growers and so it was an honour to purchase and sustain their vineyards – many of them over 100 years old. Some of our wines are now named after these families,” he said. Continued on page 5
Congratulations and best wishes to Grant Burge Wines celebrating 25 years
TR3567-V16
We are very proud of our association and wish to thank you for your loyalty.
HOTEL COMPLEX
sales@barossacommunications.com.au Ph: 8562 2900 | Barossa Mall, Nuriootpa
We look forward to serving you For any enquiries or bookings: 8563 2303 | 235 Murray Street, Tanunda W|www.barossaweintal.com.au E|info@barossaweintal.com.au 4 - Grant Burge Wines 25 Years, “The Leader”, August 28, 2013
Follow us on Facebook
DR6607-V2
Call in today and experience the unique difference where friendly service and satisfaction is everything!