A golden beginning
Rutherglen’s history is written in gold and vines. Its wine industry emerged during the 1850s gold rush, when prosperity drove demand for goods and services, and Rutherglen was one of several Victorian wine regions supplying Melbourne’s new, wealthy wine connoisseurs. The wine trade was booming and Rutherglen’s winemakers, initially known for their dry red wines, soon found that people wanted rich, sweet fortified wines instead. These became Rutherglen’s specialty.
The gum tree-filled region is famous for two fortified wines in particular: Muscat and Topaque. Wine writer and author Jancis Robinson has called these traditional styles of Rutherglen Muscat and Topaque ‘…some of the most extraordinary in the world, and nowhere else has the vine stocks and arid climate to grow and mature anything like them.’
Muscat is a uniquely Australian wine renowned for its intensity, complexity and rich raisin and chocolate flavours. To make great Muscat, the grapes must be very ripe, and Rutherglen’s warm, sunny climate is perfectly suited to the task. The wine is aged in barrels for at least five years and as long as 100 years or more, with the best-quality Muscat seemingly timeless and left to develop in the barrel for generations.
Topaque was initially called Tokay, but its name in Australia was changed to avoid confusion with Hungary’s Tokaji wines.
Curiosity leads to diversity
Visit the region today, driving or cycling your way through, and you’ll find historic wineries using old-fashioned equipment and down-to-earth winemakers maintaining tradition. Red table wines are still a staple, including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Durif – an iconic Rutherglen red that’s also known as Petite Sirah and has been described as ‘Shiraz on steroids’ thanks to its dark, inky colour, intense flavours and ability to age for a very long time. But you’ll also find winemakers who are branching out with new wine styles and varieties, including Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Fiano, Gewürztraminer and Tempranillo. It would be easy for Rutherglen’s winemakers to rely solely on the region’s history and fame, but a strong spirit of creativity lives on.
You’ll find creativity, too, in the region’s food scene, where restaurants showcase seasonal produce, and olives and chocolate are local specialties. Tradition has endured in Rutherglen and after more than a century, it’s still Australia’s undisputed capital of fortified wines. But scratch the surface and you’ll see a new generation of makers forging new paths as they take the region into the future.
