Chambers Rosewood, Rutherglen Muscat NV
Country: Australia Region: Victoria Vintage: NV
Varietal: Sweet Category: Wine
Producer: Chambers Rosewood
"As the 6th generation of the Chambers family to make wine at the Rosewood winery, Stephen took over the winemaking in 2001. This venerable winery, started in 1858 by William Chambers, is one of the most fabled in Rutherglen. This charming, northeastern Victorian town, the sort of place that time forgot, still speaks of the gold rush that led to the town's foundation, and the development of the wine industry, in the 1850s.
Chambers make distinctive yet classical wines from their 50 hectares of vineyard. The Rutherglen Muscats are made from the darker-skinned Muscat à Petits Grains Rouge variety (a mutation of Muscat à Petits Grains Blanc). Winemaking has been subtly changed in recent years in order to make fresher, cleaner wines. Fermentation is done by vineyard plot in closed stainless steel tanks to preserve the grapes' perfumes. It is then stopped when the must reaches between 14.5 and 15.5 Baumé (potential alcohol) by adding neutral grape spirit. Upon settling, the wine is racked off gross lees and placed into old oak casks (from 10 to 100 years old, and from 225 litres all the way up to 5,000 litres in size) until required for blending. The average age of the Rutherglen Muscat blend is four years, which has increased in the last couple of years as new vineyards have come into production. In exceptional vintages, grapes from Chambers Rosewood's low-yielding centenarian vines are used for the Old Vine Muscat, which is made using a separate, special solera.
The wines, rich and unctuous on the palate yet zesty and balanced on the finish, mingle dried fruit characters with hints of rose petals. These are superb wines to sip on their own, with cheese or with a wide variety of desserts. They are a reminder that Rutherglen produces some of the greatest sweet wines in the world!"
Product Features: Vegan; Vegetarian
Winemaker: Stephen Chambers
Vineyards:
Chambers make distinctive yet classical wines from their 50 hectares of vineyards. The vineyards are located on gently sloping land in Rutherglen with red duplex soil over clay, within just one kilometre radius of the winery. The vines are hand pruned to a rod and spur system which allows each vine to be viewed on an individual basis. The trellising system is a single wire with a sprawling canopy.
Vinification:
Harvest of the grapes for this wine commences once the fruit reaches a ripeness of 16 baume. At this stage the grapes will have some variation throughout the bunches, with some being plump, whilst other will show signs of grape shrivel. Prior to 2015 harvest was done by hand, now it is machine harvested. Once a parcel of grapes are harvested they are destemmed and the must placed into a closed stainless steel fermentation tank. A fermentation of between 0.5 and 4 baume is undertaken. The amount of fermentation is dependent upon the final baume level of the parcel, this usually occurs around 24 hours after harvest and a soak on skins. Once fermentation has commenced and the sugar level has fallen to between 14 and 15 baume the grapes are pressed with the fermenting juice fortified with neutral grape wine spirit (95.8 to 96.2%). The resultant wine is then settled in stainless steel tanks and then racked into old oak casks, which range in size between 220 to 5500 litres. The wines are kept as single vintage and vineyard parcels until blending.
Tasting Notes:
The Rutherglen Muscat is typically tawny red in colour with aromas of rose petals, raisins and dried fruit. These characters carry through to the palate, balanced with fresh acidity and the strength of its alcohol content. The resulting wine is unctuous and rich yet zesty and balanced.
Food Suggestion: Sip on it's own or enjoy with cheeses and a variety of desserts.
Closure: Stelvin ABV: 19% Acidity [g/l]: 3.4
