A Classification of Rutherglen Muscat

Ever experienced just how difficult it can be to choose a hotel sight unseen? Perhaps four, five or even six stars might follow its name on the advertising material, but how do they really rate? For someone’s three stars can sometimes be better than someone else’s five.

Buying a bottle of muscat has had much in common. Different makers have adopted different names for their wines, so it’s naturally been difficult to compare one to another. How does the ‘Liqueur’ muscat of one maker shape up against the ‘Premium’ of another’s? Can you tell a muscat’s quality or age by bottle shape, label, or price? Usually not. That’s why I’m so pleased that a group of the leading makers of Rutherglen Muscat have got themselves together to establish and market a Classification of Rutherglen Muscat.

The ‘Muscat of Rutherglen Network’ comprises the notable companies of All Saints, Bullers, Campbells, Chambers, Morris, Pfeiffer, Seppelt and Stanton & Killeen. It is the operators of these companies who have chosen the classification levels and operate the system whereby muscat is allocated into the different niches of muscat hierarchy. To some extent it’s a little like the media judging the media, which nobody really entertains very seriously, but only a brave man would argue that these guys don’t possess more accumulated wisdom about muscat than the rest of the wine world put together.

To this time 29 muscats are included within this classification, including several so limited in quantity that are only available from some of the cellar-doors.

The system evolved by the ‘Muscat of Rutherglen Network’ actually has something in common with the star system used to distinguish between hotels, although in my experience it’s certainly more reliable. If you were to equate the four levels of classification, then ‘Rutherglen Muscat’ would resemble three stars, while ‘Classic Rutherglen Muscat’ would stand for four, ‘Grand Rutherglen Muscat’ for five and the incomparable ‘Rare Rutherglen Muscat’ for the exclusive, but very genuine six.

As they progress up the scale the idea is that the wines reflect a development of richness, complexity and intensity, each of which are broadly correlated with increasing maturity. Wines that qualify for the various quality levels are labelled with these terms and also carry the distinctive oval Muscat of Rutherglen logo.

A Classification of Rutherglen Muscat:

Rutherglen Muscat

Fresh raisin aromas, rich fruit, clean spirit and great palate length.

Classic Rutherglen Muscat

Greater richness and complexity, older material, some ‘rancio’ character from extended oak maturation of some components.

Grand Rutherglen Muscat

Extra intensity, depth and concentration, mature rancio characters, complexity.

Rare Rutherglen Muscat

Fully developed, selected from only richest and most complete wines, tiny quantities, great complexity, texture and depth.

As it becomes harder than ever before to find wines of a type that are uniquely Australian, Rutherglen muscat becomes ever more valuable. For there is no wine in the world quite like it. Its incomparable lusciousness, sweetness and concentration and the ethereal complexity it acquires with maturation in large old casks, stamps it as one of the truly indigenous wines of Australia, joining in this respect wines like Hunter Valley semillon and our wonderful sparkling red. But there’s a special indulgent decadence about a bottle of mature muscat, just as there’s the opportunity to connect with a timeless piece of Australian winemaking tradition and experience. Inhale the fragrance of a Chambers Rare Muscat and it’s impossible not to be transported back through the years, in Tardis-like fashion, for at least a precious moment or two.

Made from a variant of muscat a petits grains rouge, known as Rutherglen Brown Muscat, the first wines identifiable to the present style of Rutherglen muscat were fashioned as far back as the 1850s. Given that we’re talking about a single variety made in a single region, the diversity cultivated between the different muscats made by the different makers is nothing less than extraordinary.

Great muscats are blends of many different years, some old, some younger and fresher. One of legendary maker Mick Morris’ secrets is that he isn’t able to blend up his best muscats every year, since they typically demand exceptional seasons. ‘You don’t just put anything in; only the best stuff is suitable for the best wines’, he says. ‘If have three or four years without good seasons for muscat the wine can get a bit old before we get a good year to freshen it up.

‘When we make the wines we segregate muscats into three or four different categories, the best of which are matured in small wood, the second best probably get the same thing, then the third and fourth best might not even see small wood. We sell them as cheaper as earlier-drinking wines.’

Morris’ Old Premium Rare Muscat is a very mature blend, most of which presently dates back to the vintages of 1970, 1972 and 1974. Mick confesses that Morris actually keeps a ‘better’ one at the cellar door for ‘special purchasers’. It’s not shown or released as a commercial wine and it fetches around $120 per bottle, direct from son David Morris himself. So now you know.

As you might expect, Mick Morris has some definite views on the way that winemakers can influence their styles of muscat. ‘Everybody has a different feeling for different wines and it’s the same with muscat. For example we don’t like any new oak, so we only use old oak. But others prefer new oak and don’t mind if it’s a little obvious. Some like to add acid. We don’t, since we reckon acid accumulates as muscat ages. Others do, however, with a view that acid gives a wine more stability’, he says.

Morris also believes that the issue of when growers pick their muscat is a major influence on style. ‘It depends on a maker’s philosophy, for some styles are drier than others. We try to get the maximum fruit and flavour and also look for complexity and balance.’

Muscats sporting brand-new labels which deploy the terms outlined in this classification have already appeared on the retail shelves. So now it’s easier than ever before to select your potion of choice with absolute confidence. Enjoy. Please login to post comment