Charles Melton Nine Popes 2018

Charles Melton Nine Popes

Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia

Vintage: 2018

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Garnacha, Syrah, Mataro

ABV: 14.5%

A little toasty flint opening. Quietly sweet, not exuberant but with a real density of aromatic. A hint of anise or licorice. A generous, but fine, sweetly structured and flavour attack into the mouth. The sweet fruit floods across your tongue for a moment while you differentiate the flavour components.

The Grenache in this blend comes from old bush vines in the Barossa, many of which are over 80 years old. The Mourvèdre is also from a small parcel of bush vines in the Eden Valley, whilst the Shiraz is trellis grown. The blend is made up primarily of grapes from Charles Melton's prime vineyards plus some from the vineyards of a small number of trusted partner growers. None of the vineyards are irrigated, they are all dry grown. This coupled with the low yielding old vines leads to great concentrations of flavour in the grapes.

Charlie Melton was one of the first to recognise the value and tradition of the Barossa Valley’s old-vine Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre (Mataro). While others were grubbing up Shiraz to plant more fashionable varieties, Charlie and a small band of Barossa winemakers were convincing farmers to keep their historic vineyards. These wines were initially styled on those from the Rhône, but are now considered leading examples in their own right.

https://www.charlesmeltonwines.com.au