Two great little rosés under $15 in the same week! This cleverly crafted thing has the structure and style to step beyond the average rosé, into a world of wonderful food matching versatility. Simon Killeen harvests the Portuguese varieties touriga nacional, tinta cao and tinta barroca a little earlier than he does for port, but […]
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Rutherglen knows a thing or two about muscat and Rutherglen Estates is the custodian of the largest plantings in the region. This moscato has impressive fruit character, which maker Marc Scalzo puts down to the grape muscat blanc à petits grains rouge, a smaller grape, finer and less phenolic than muscat gordo blanco. A touch of […]
readWinemaker Marc Scalzo prizes texture in white wines, and works like a demon to build mouth feel without sacrificing varietal integrity and freshness. He picks arneis the moment the flavour kicks in, while retaining tangy lemon-like acidity. A lovely lees-accented texture is built through plenty of lees stirring. Lively lemon zest, pink grapefruit and fresh […]
readThrow out the boxes, this wine flies in the face of every generalisation going. Who would have expected Rutherglen to conjure decent merlot in the challengingly cold and wet 2011 vintage, from vines that Simon Killeen himself describes as “the awful clone of merlot”? At just 12% alcohol it’s a lovely, light, lunchtime red, with […]
readTempranillo excited me more than any other table wine in Rutherglen last week. No surprise that the fortified capital of Australia is turning its hand to the traditional varieties of Spain and Portugal. Campbells has had tempranillo in the ground since the 1960s, making it a pioneer of this variety in Australia. At a refreshing […]
readMore expertise is poured into this wine than you’d expect for $20. It’s picked in two passes to achieve consistency of ripeness, then wild fermented in barrels with plenty of grape solids to build impressively fine texture. It retains its clean, zesty freshness of grapefruit and lemon, crunchy pear and custard apple notes. The entire […]
readWith just a single fortified wine on its books, Rutherglen Estate is leading its region in the table wine stakes, and after tasting every single wine in the house last week, it rightfully claims a full fifty percent of the coveted places in this week’s Wine Taste Weekly. At an average price of just $16.50, […]
readBobbie Burns is Rutherglen’s most famous table wine, and one of the few readily available outside the region. Its forty-first vintage is distinctively regional and as well-priced as ever. There’s a savoury edge of freshly-tilled earth to this spicy, peppery style. An intense core of dense black plum skin and liquorice provides impressive concentration without […]
readA number of Rutherglen estates are making tricked-up marsanne with plenty of oak and lees work, and in every case I prefer the younger, fresher and cheaper entry version. All Saints cleverly puts this wine over the lees of the big boy and gives it a little time in oak, but the focus remains resolutely […]
readMarc Scalzo is representative of a new generation in Rutherglen who prize texture before robust structure, varietal expression before impact and vibrancy before spirity alcohol – a refreshing twist for a region famous for durif capable of blowing your head off! Scalzo’s Durif clocks in at a tame 13.5%, an impressive wine, but his Zin trumps […]
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