Craig Stansborough

Coming Up

The early cellar work at Seppeltsfield and Chateau Tanunda gave Craig Stansborough two different Barossa settings in which to build his craft. Seppelts and those houses carry weight in the region, and the value of those years was not only technical. They also built a working sense of Barossa character, its memory, and the standards that come with making wine there. That grounding now sits behind his work at Grant Burge Wines, where the house style is its own thing, but still shaped by the region that formed him.

Where They Are Now

At Grant Burge Wines, restraint is part of the brief. Craig Stansborough describes the wines in terms of approachability, balance, and drinkability, and he is explicit about the house not chasing the ripe, high-alcohol trend that moved through the Barossa and beyond in the early 2000s. In his words, balance has remained central. The result is a style built less on volume than on measure. That measure comes from having seen how far vintage decisions can be pushed. When Stansborough talks about a period when winemakers were focused on seed lignification and waiting for every seed to brown before picking, he is describing the intensity of those calls in practical terms. His point is clear: style shifts, and the trade has had to adjust with them. As he puts it, there has been a swing away from the uber-ripe styles. The work is also social, not just technical. For Stansborough, the appeal sits in the exchange between people in the cellar and the shared aim that drives the season. He says he values the diversity of the work and the chance to work with like-minded people toward one goal. In that frame, the cellar is a place of collaboration, with the aim of making wines that are polished without losing their footing.

Signature

Craig's signature wines include Holy Trinity GSM, Filsell Shiraz, Nebu Cabernet Shiraz, and Corryton Park Cabernet Sauvignon. Together, they map the range of his winemaking: blends and varietals that work through structure, composure, and the balance he returns to again and again.

In Their Words “Grant Burge Wines have always had an approachability to them, we didn’t follow the ripe high alc trend that swept the Barossa and other regions through the early 2000s, balance has always been a key to our wines.” “We went to a stage where we were all worried about seed lignification and making sure every seed was brown before we picked.”