A VISION REALISED
Words & photography by Alicia Lüdi-Schutz
Admiration, respect and a sincere
passion for Barossa’s wine heritage is
what the Burge family are about.
With a name synonymous with quality,
it was fifth generation winemaker, Grant
Burge who was instrumental in taking
his brand to the world.
But the family’s Barossa story began
much earlier, back in 1855 when Grant’s
forefathers arrived in Lyndoch from a
little English village named Wilsford, the
title given to the first winery connected
to the Burge moniker.
“Percy Burge, the third generation after
John and Meshach Burge, during the
Depression in 1928, couldn’t sell his
grapes and decided to make wine,”
says Grant.
“It was all fortified wines in those days.”
Grant has fond childhood memories of
the winery his father, Colin and uncle,
Noel took over back in the fifties.
“I grew up in that environment, my
playpen was the winery and I loved
it and always knew I wanted to be a
winemaker.”
Educated at St. Peter’s College as all
Burge men have, there was a brief
moment Grant thought he might
become a lawyer.
“Someone up above said no-no Grant,
I’ve chosen you as a winemaker and I
won’t give you a decent enough score
to get into law!”
Grant’s mother, Nancy wouldn’t allow
her only child to join the family business
because she foresaw the market
steering away from fortifieds to table
wines.
“I won’t tell you what I thought of her
at the time! But, she was absolutely
correct and that forced me to go out
and do my own thing.”
Owning his own wine brand was Grant’s
vision right from the start and, with
support from his father, bought land
in the early 1970s which they developed
into vineyard together.
Grant teamed up with Ian Wilson to
begin Burge and Wilson in McLaren
Vale, the region where he gained his
earliest employment.
“In those days, there was no winery
other than the one I worked at that
could make white wine, so we had to
come to the Barossa to make it,” Grant
explains.
“I played cricket with Rod Chapman
down in Lyndoch and he was the
manager at Krondorf winery. He said
come up and make your wine there, so
we did. After two years, in 1977, he said
boys, bad news, Dalgety is going to sell
the winery. But it’s good news for you
guys, you should organise someone
to buy it.
“The day it came on the market, we put
in our offer and on my birthday, 20th
January, 1978 we took the keys.
“I was 27 and my business partner
was 25. That in itself created a lot of
publicity…How the hell could these two
youngsters go and buy a winery?”
But they had, through business
partnerships and selling their successful
bulk wine making business, Krondorf
Wines was theirs.
“In 1979 we won a heap of trophies
around Australia for our wine and then
in 1980 we won the Jimmy Watson after
Wolf Blass won his Jimmy Watsons and
had really made it something... He was
the competition, but we admired him
- he was the king.”
Phrases like, “We’ve entered the Wolf’s
Lair” and “Cry Wolf Cry” burst into
promotional campaigns, with Blassy
himself ringing to say he loved the extra
exposure and “you boys keep it up!”
“Honestly, I’ve never been a rock star
but that year all the interviews and the
rest of it - it was like you were Rod
Stewart!” laughs Grant.
“That win really launched the brand. I
remember the first year we sold 11,000
cases, the next year we sold 22,000,
the next was 44,000, then 88,000 and
after eight years we were nearly up to
200,000 cases of wine.
“In 1983 we went public and we raised
$8 million to fund that growth, it was
just amazing.”
By now, Grant had already met the love
of his life, Helen whom he married in 1981.
Life and business was blossoming and
eventually Mildara came knocking to
buy out Krondorf Wines’ shareholders.
“Helen and I wanted to buy the
company… but the share price had gone
so high that we couldn’t afford it. In
the end I said I would sell my shares at
85 cents, everyone got that… I’m still
waiting for them to send me money
for getting them that extra 15 cents!”
he says with a smirk.
Grant and Helen bought the Krondorf
vineyards, adding to their landholdings.
“We really went out and bought a
lot of vineyards...interesting because
vineyards were losing money at the
time.”
He worked as production director for
Mildara for two years and on weekends,
managed his own vineyards.
“I was away a lot during the week and
it got to the point where I thought do
I really want this? I wanted my own
business and at the end of ’87 I resigned
from Mildara and said right, we’re starting Grant Burge Wines and that’s
when we bought the Wine Keller. It was
a restaurant...That’s where we were for
20 years or so. It’s St. Hugo’s now.”
Grant was going to build a winery at
the site to crush grapes, but the late
Doug Lehmann, who was winemaker
at Basedow’s in Tanunda at the time,
offered an alternative.
“Doug rang and said Grant, come and
make your wine here…I’ve got plenty of
capacity and I’ll give you a good deal. If
your winery succeeds, you can always
build yours later and if it doesn’t, you
won’t need one. I said that’s very good
logic!”
In 1993, Grant bought that very winery
(Illapara) where he was crushing 3,000
tonne a year.
“People were calling it Burge-a-dows!”
he jokes.
Grant Burge Wines became an
internationally renowned brand making
750,000 cases and turning over $70
million. Then five years ago it was sold
to global company Accolade, something
Grant says he still struggles a little with
today - after all, it is his name.
“Yep, and that doesn’t fit that
comfortably with me,” he says.
“We decided we had too much debt and
wanted to clear the decks a bit. We only
sold the brand and the wine, we didn’t
sell any real estate basically. If you had
asked me two years before that, would
you ever sell the brand? I would have
told you you’re crazy! There’s no way
I wanted it sold.
“The brain side of it says it was a very
good deal. Emotionally, it wasn’t great...
But hey, we can’t complain. I mean, we
signed the document willingly and that’s
business.”
winemaking is now his other love with
Trent describing how he had the best
apprenticeship a winemaker could
have.
“I’ve realised this is a really great
industry. There are amazing wines
out there, trying them has built up my
passion not only for the wine, but also
the whole industry of the Barossa,” he
enthuses.
“For me, it’s about how hard the
generations before me worked and
what they’ve done. Even all the old
vines that the Barossa has and how
there are no other places in the world
that have the scale of old vines we do. “I feel really privileged and lucky to
be the next generation to take on and
be, I guess, a custodian of the region
and work hard to not stuff up what all
the generations before me have put
together!”
Asked if he feels the pressure of being
the son of a winemaking legend, he
pauses briefly to reflect. The question
has been asked before.
“Sometimes it’s a burden and sometimes
it’s not,” is his reply. “It definitely opens
doors to talk to people about the wines
that you’re making but it doesn’t force
them to say it’s good. Ultimately the
wine has to speak for itself.”
THE STORY CONTINUES FOR BURGE
The Burge story is far from over with
sixth generation, Trent Burge continuing
the long winemaking tradition.
He has his own brand, Barossa Boy,
made at Illaparra - a busy contract
winemaking facility which trades under
the multi-faceted Burge Barossa family
business and includes everything from
bottling and distribution, to farming
and tourism.
For Trent, being the next winemaker
in the Burge lineage is a privilege,
although his career path wasn’t as
“clean cut” as Grant’s.
Straight out of school, Trent started as
a cellar hand at Illaparra.
“At first, it was about having a job and
being able to have fun with my mates
on the weekends and focusing on trying
to make it as a sportsman,” Trent says
of his early wine industry experience.
“I was heavily into sport, footy... and
cricket has always been a passion.
“As the years went by, I went from
wanting the baggy green, to wanting
to be a part of the Red Backs. I got to a
pretty good level in SA and I played 14
years of cricket for Northern Districts...
played a couple of summers in the UK.”
Still a devoted cricketer today,
MAIN: Fifth generation winemaker, Grant Burge with his son Trent
who is continuing the long tradition of winemaking in the family.