Muscat of Rutherglen Classification
Sommeliers Australia Tasting
July 2024
Jen Pfeiffer, Winemaker, Pfeiffer Wines
Stephen Chambers, Winemaker, Chambers Rosewood Vineyards
Sarah Andrew, Sommeliers Australia WSET Global Educator
History
￮ 1850s: First plantings of Muscat by British, German and French settlers
￮ 1850s: Lindsay Brown considered to be the godfather of Rutherglen wine region. Planted four acre vineyard on his Browns Plains property towards the end of 50s
￮ 1850 – 1880: wineries established in this period include Gehrigs 1858, Chambers Rosewood 1858, Morris 1859, Mount Prior 1860, All Saints 1864, Campbells 1870, Stanton and Killeen 1875
￮ 1860s: 3000 acres planted, a third of the total Australian growing area.
￮ 1899: Phylloxera hits Rutherglen, replanting on American rootstock commences.
￮ 1906: 7000+ acres planted in Rutherglen
￮ 1930: Exports to UK are 3,409,000 litres.
￮ 1960s: Increase in production and consumption of table wines, start of decline of fortified wine consumption.
￮ Today, 1930 acres (781 hectares) under vine.
Facts and Figures
￮ The size of the Rutherglen GI is 998km²
￮ Total vineyard area is 781 hectares
￮ Annual fruit production is approx. 3500 tonnes
￮ 76% red varieties, 24% white varieties
￮ Large plantings of Shiraz, Durif and Muscat
￮ Vineyards age from 5 to 100+ years old
￮ World famous for the production of our fortified wines, particularly Rutherglen Muscat and Rutherglen Topaque
￮ Most wine produced in Rutherglen is sold domestically, with 95,000 litres (an estimated 5% of total crush) being exported today.
￮ High value product, average value per litre exported $15.58.
￮ UK and USA strongest export markets.
Key Sales Statistics
￮ 1950, 86% of Australian production was fortified.
￮ 2022, 1.7% of Australian wine sales were fortified.
￮ While there is a downward trend in fortified sales, there is some growth in the premium category, particularly in Muscat, growing by 8% in 2022.
￮ Within Rutherglen, Muscat represents 8% of total crush and Muscadelle 4%.
Where is Rutherglen?
Situated in the Victorian High Country, Rutherglen is:
￮ 300kms north east of Melbourne
￮ 600kms south west of Sydney
￮ 400kms south west of Canberra.
Rutherglen Climate
￮ Annual rainfall 565 mm (297mm growing season)
￮ Elevation 135-180m asl
￮ Mean January temperature is 22.4°C (warm region)
￮ Heat summation 1770
￮ Low RH (38% growing season)
￮ High Sunshine Hours
￮ Strong influence from mountains.
￮ Continental climate
￮ Cool nights, warm days and a long dry autumn
￮ One of the longest ripening windows in Australia.
￮ Spring frosts can be an issue.
￮ Climate well suited to fortifieds.
￮ Climate change bringing changes to rainfall and temperatures, as well as more extreme weather events.
Rutherglen Soils
￮ Key flavours of Muscat are common to all soil types
￮ However certain vineyards and soil types promote certain characters.
￮ 2 key top soil types throughout region:
￮ Sandy Loams – Black Dog Sandy Loam (Wahgunyah Belt), located along the Murray River.
￮ Grey/Brown Loams – Rutherglen Loam on the higher areas in the district.
￮ SubSoils
￮ Generally Light to Medium clays
￮ River gravel
Rutherglen Soils
Light sandy soil
Loam
Vineyard Management:
￮ Pruning
￮ Canopy Management
￮ Pest and Disease Control
￮ Irrigation
￮ Harvest
Production & Winemaking
￮ Picking decisions
￮ Crushing & Pressing
￮ Mistelle styles vs Fermented styles
￮ Vessel selection
￮ Fortification (type of spirit/spirit selection)
￮ Winemaking additions
￮ Juice yield
￮ Post vintage winemaking
Oxidative Ageing
￮ Concentration through osmosis is the most defining aspect of oxidative ageing.
￮ During oxidative ageing, typical wine chemistry changes that occur are increases in sugar, acidity, glycerol, volatile acidity, alcohol, extract, etc.
￮ Oxidative changes within the wine are also occurring, resulting in caramelization-like characters developing in the wine, eg toffee, treacle.
￮ Wine maintenance throughout oxidative ageing extremely important – with SO2 adjustment, racking and topping all critical to house style.
Barrel Selection
￮ Producers look for old oak, preferably oak that has been seasoned with a previous fortified wine.
￮ Barrel size has an impact on the style of wine produced. A small barrel has a greater surface area, thus allowing for more evaporative loss, seeing a faster rate of maturation than in a large cask.
￮ Large wood is a wonderful asset in the maturation of the wines, preserving the powerful fruit flavour over time, yet still allowing the slow changes through oxidative ageing.
￮ Barrel positioning (location and temperature) plays a role in the maturation of our Muscats and Topaques.
￮ Each producer’s cellar has its own “terroir”.
￮ End use of the product often determines the type of barrel chosen for maturation.
Blending
￮ Rutherglen Muscat and Rutherglen Topaque are non-vintage styles, so blending is critical
￮ It helps maintain the consistency of the classification (sale) blends, allowing for subtle changes in style to be introduced over time.
￮ Two methods are generally employed for blending – a modified solera system and a winemakers selection blending system.
￮ Cross-generational winemaking is very important
￮ As a blender, it is important to understand the allocation of your solera
Muscat of Rutherglen Network
￮ Group formed in 1995 and developed a code of practice.
￮ Protect and ensure the integrity and relevance of Muscat of Rutherglen, and to grow awareness and sales of fortified wines.
￮ Rutherglen fortified producers work collectively to promote and support Muscat.
￮ The group developed a Code of Practice and a four-tier classification system, representing an ascending order of age, richness, complexity (i.e. quality).
￮ Classifications: Rutherglen, Classic, Grand and Rare.
Classification System
￮ Rutherglen:
￮ 3-5 years average age
￮ Foundation style, fresh primary fruit, with integrated spirit and light wood aged characters.
￮ Classic:
￮ 6-10 years average age
￮ Greater levels of richness and intensity, but still showing plenty of primary fruit characters, with some nutty wood aged characters on the finish.
￮ Grand:
￮ 11-19 years average age
￮ Showing far greater levels of richness and depth, with layers and layers of flavour.
￮ Mature wood aged characters adding great complexity and depth.
￮ Rare:
￮ 20+ years average age
￮ The pinnacle of the style
￮ The richest, most complex and most complete wines
￮ Made from the very best parcels of fruit from the very best vintages, matured in the very best barrels.
Muscat Characteristics
￮ Colour: red-orange tawny to deep brown-black with olive hues
￮ Aromas: floral, raisin, rose petal, Turkish delight, Christmas spices, dried fruits, espresso, dark chocolate, roasted nuts.
￮ Palate: raisin, dried fig, roasted nuts, Christmas pudding, toffee, dark chocolate, coffee, chicory.
￮ Full bodied, with high sweetness
￮ Low to medium acidity
￮ Medium to high alcohol
￮ Cellaring: drink now
￮ Food partners: rich paté, terrine, fruit cake, Florentines, dark chocolate truffles.
Wines on Tasting
1. De Bortoli Rutherglen Estate, NV Classic
2. Jones Winery & Vineyard, NV Classic
3. Pfeiffer Wines, NV Rutherglen, NV Classic, NV Grand & NV Rare
4. All Saints Estate , NV Rutherglen, NV Classic, NV Grand & NV Rare
5. John Gehrig Wines, NV Classic
6. Chambers Rosewood Vineyards , NV Rutherglen, NV Classic, NV Grand & NV Rare
7. Stanton & Killeen Wines, , NV Rutherglen, NV Classic, NV Grand & NV Rare
8. Anderson Winery NV Classic & NV Grand
9. Morris of Rutherglen, NV Classic, NV Grand & NV Rare
