Allan Border’s maiden blend

FORMER Australian test captain Allan Border has put his name to his first blend, the Maiden Tonne Shiraz, produced in collaboration with Heathcote’s Sanguine Estate Winery.

Border said it was a fellow cricketer, the late Dean Jones, who sparked his interest in wine.

“Before Deano passed, he introduced me to my first ever Sanguine Shiraz,” he said.

“We shared a bottle of Sanguine D’Orsa at his home in Romsey and he said it came from his good mate Tony Hunter.”

Mr Hunter said he met Jones through another shared pursuit.

“Dean Jones and I were both members of the Heathcote Golf Club,” he said. “On a number of occasions I played golf with Deano.

“We got talking a lot about wine, it was clearly my passion and it was also Dean’s passion, he loved wine.”

Originally Border and Jones were planning on creating a wine together with Sanguine Estate, but this was put on hold after Jones’ death in 2020.

Eventually Border revived his interest in the project and his relationship with the Hunter family blossomed from there.

Jodie Marsh, Sanguine Estate CEO and Tony Hunter’s daughter, said Border had been heavily involved in the wine-making process and the Maiden Tonne Shiraz blend was his own personal choice.

“We presented Allan and his wife Jane tastings from four of our best barrels,” she said.  “The blend that makes up the Maiden Tonne is 100 per cent uniquely Border.”

Border also picked the name, referencing his first century against Pakistan at the MCG in 1979.

“Which was actually bittersweet for me as the tonne came when we lost the test from a position where we should have won,” he said.

“There’s actually one other more sentimental reason we wanted to call it Maiden Tonne.

“I know my first century proved to the Australian selectors at the time that I was worthy of my place in the team.

“I want the Maiden Tonne Shiraz to prove to the Australian wine industry just how good and worthy Sanguine Estate is.”

Ms Marsh said the family had enjoyed working with Border and had developed a personal relationship with him.

“I think you have a vision about celebrities being a bit standoffish but with Allan and Jane it’s just been this beautiful time together,” she said.

“To think that they’re working with us on a wine, to think that we were enjoying Allan’s company out in the vineyard harvesting grapes and equally in the winery showing them what we do and how we do it, it’s so special.

“We’re just so lucky as a family to have this experience with Allan Border.

“I have fond memories of my childhood with my father sitting back watching football in the winter season and cricket in the summer season, and watching these icons of Australian cricket such as Allan Border, Captain Grumpy, as well as Dean Jones.”

Only 2000 bottles of the Maiden Tonne are being released via a ballot, with a two bottle per person limit.