Grant Burge’s GSM blend is called “Holy Trinity”. It comes from 5 different vineyards with the 1890s vineyard accounting for about 40%. Usually the blend is 44% Grenache, 40% Shiraz and 16% Mourvedre and the wine receives no new oak. Deep garnet-purple colored the 2008 Holy Trinity offers vibrant raspberry, rose petal and orange peel aromas with nuances of spice box and underbrush. Full bodied and richly fruited in the mouth, it has a medium to firm level of velvety tannins, crisp acid and a long spicy finish. Drink it now to 2018+. Tasting three vintages of Grant Burge’s flagship wine, Meshach, with him in Autumn 2011, he told me a bit more about the background of the wine. It’s named after his grandfather: “I was looking for a name that had something to do with longevity. My grandfather lived for 99 years and 9 months.” The wine has always been made entirely from old vine Barossa Shiraz, predominately coming from the Filsell vineyard planted in the 1920s. “When we started first making the wine in 1988 it was a 100% American oak. But then we thought the oak was too sweet. Since 1998 we use 20% French oak and 80% American. We made the change in 1998. The current vintage, 2006 Meshach, was released in March 2011.Importer: Wilson Daniels Ltd., St. Helena, CA; www.wilsondaniels.com

The 2007 The Holy Trinity Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre has a deep garnet color with a touch of purple in the rim. The nose provides earthy / gamey aromas with a core of warm cherries and black raspberries plus some pepper and aniseed. Very crisp in the mouth, it’s well balanced with medium-firm velvety tannins and generous fruit, finishing long. Drink it now to 2015+. Importer: Wilson Daniels Ltd., St. Helena, CA; www.wilsondaniels.com