by Malcolm Jolley

Grant Burge founded his eponymous Australian winery with his wife, Helen, on lands his family has been farming for more than 150 years. Grant Burge wines pass through the LCBO periodically, and are worth keeping an eye out for. His ‘Holy Trinity’ series of ‘GSM’ (a.k.a. Grenache, Mourverdre,  Syrah) echoes its Rhône inspiration. His “Shiraz” series of wines, by comparison are made in the Australian style pioneered by Max Schubert, the legendary originator of Penfolds’ Grange. The 2008 Miamba Shiraz reviewed below, and currently cycling through the LCBO Vintages program, is a great example. These are bigger, more powerfully fruity wines, but retain an elegance and grace that belie the quickly hashed together supermarket “critter” wines that have tarnished Aussie Shiraz in export markets like ours in the last 20 years. Grant Burge makes serious wines that are fun to drink. He explains how and why in the video below.

2008 Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz, Barossa Valley, Australia, $20.95 LCBO# 725127
Deep black and blue fruit – plums and black cherry pop, with a touch of cinnamon and black pepper zing. Enough acidity to bring water to  the mouth and a little tannic edge ask for hardy winter dishes like stews and lasagne. Or save it for the cheese course since its seductive balance makes this a dangerous wine: it’s hard to perceive its 14.5% alcohol by volume… ah, but what a way to go.