By Producer:  Charles Melton

At Charles Melton Wines, great emphasis is placed on the quality of fruit. All grapes are dry grown and harvested from the winery's own 50 acres of prime Barossa vineyard land, as well as from a select group of grapegrowers. Yields are extremely low and the vineyards are truly old with many exceeding 80 years. The oldest source for Nine Popes is a Grenache vineyard well over a century in age. A range of techniques are employed during the winemaking process including whole bunch fermentation, open fermentation, pigeage and indigenous yeast fermentation. These techniques allow a range of blending options to give the most complete wine, in terms of balance between pure fruit flavours and more earthy/gamey characters. The dry reds are matured in both French and American Oak, 25% of which are new each year. This gives rise to a cellar style which has a kiss of superb oak character - rather than a thump - and allows the rich fragrance and flavours of old dry grown Barossa vines to move to the fore. Showing complexity from this range of vineyard sites and vinification techniques, the wines have demonstrated over the last decade an ability to cellar gracefully into mature examples of the finest Barossa styles.