A heady blackberry and damson-scented Australian red made with shiraz fruit from sun-drenched vineyards. Full-bodied with soft tannins, a touch of vanilla and a sweet black-cherry finish.

Grant Burge founded his family business in 1988 in the heart of the Barossa Valley when he purchased an already well-established estate. Burge was no novice, having been an experienced industry veteran with other companies before taking on his own venture, and was also the fifth generation of a winemaking family that had originally emigrated to Australia from Wiltshire in 1855. Since the mid-2000s, he and his wife Helen have also welcomed their three children – the sixth generation – to the team.

Burge now has extensive holdings in the rich, red-brown soils of the Barossa valley including some of the finest and oldest shiraz vineyards as well as other sites further afield. From these plots come a number of single vineyard wines, as well as the fruit for his whole range of cuvées, which are predominantly red.

His most renowned wine, and one of Barossa’s most powerful and long-lived, is Meshach Shiraz, named after Grant’s great-great-grandfather and produced from 70-year old vines.

Benchmark is a delicious entry-level shiraz made to enjoy when young and vibrant. The Filsell Old Vine Shiraz, from the eponymous vineyard, is an award-winning wine of marvellous concentration from very old vines.