THE WINE FRONT

Profile by Adam Catford 

Name:
Charles Melton                     

Age: 
(apparently, it is a well kept secret!)

Where you currently make wine:
Charles Melton Wines.

Where you’ve made wine in the past:
Saltram/Peter Lehmann Wines (both working for Peter Lehmann)

Most significant wine you’ve ever drunk:
Saltram 1963 Bin 36 (or was it Bin 35?)

Could you describe this wine? 
Tasted alongside classed growth Bordeaux’s including some 1^st growths and came across as an ethereal perfumed balanced wine of great intensity, but fine, all the things Australian wine is accused of not being.

Wine you’re most proud of having been associated with the making of?
1996 Nine Popes or any Rose of Virginia.

What wine that you have made has the most interesting story behind it – and what is that story?
Nine Popes – long story – resurrecting great old Grenache blocks – shite translation skills – lucky break.

Is there any wine you’ve been associated with the making of that, if you had your time again, you’d treat/make differently?
Every one of those wines that you gained some more insight into after you made it.  Pretty much every f...... wine I’ve made then!

In your opinion, which wine style/grape variety does Australia and New Zealand, respectively, do best? 
If you are limited to one variety for each country it would be Shiraz for Oz (we have such a lot to learn yet) and Pinot for New Zealand.

Other than the wineries you have worked with, which Australian/NZ winery is best represented in your personal cellar?
Mt Langi and other Great Westerns.

Favourite wine region (Australia):
Barossa (or if that’s not allowed, Great Western)

Favourite wine region (world-wide):
Hard choice between Tuscany and Burgundy. Take your pick.

Favourite movie:
Brief Encounter

Favourite book (general):
Roget’s Thesaurus

Favourite wine-related book:
There’s a Pike in my Basement (Simon Loftus)

Desert-island food-wine match:
Ancient old Oloroso Sherry and clear beef consommé.

How do you take your coffee?
In Australia – with milk.  In Europe – Espresso.

What do you most love about the wine industry?
The National and International friendships.

What do you most detest about the wine industry?
Seeing airy fairy clichéd bullshit quotes appearing in print and apparently said with a straight face.  I’m over it now!!

Any comments you would like to make in relation to the wine industry here or globally? 
The industry will be carried forward by people who hold a connection with their produce continuously all the way from raw material to their customers’ final consumption and care equally about every step of the journey.