Rutherglen, established in the gold rush era of the 1850s, is the unchallenged capital of fortified wines in Australia, with muscats and tokays internationally recognised.

Grand brick buildings and wineries such as Fairfield, Mount Prior, All Saints and Gehrig Estate speak of the prosperity of the late Victorian era and the glory days of the last third of the 19th century; but so, too, do the humble galvanised iron wineries of present icons such as Morris and Chambers’ Rosewood.

When the rest of Victoria went into a decline in the face of the move to fortified wine production, the north-east came into its own, notwithstanding the onslaught of phylloxera around the turn of the century.

The climate is strongly Continental, with very hot summer days and cold nights. The growing season can be threatened at one end by spring frosts that are exacerbated by cold air blowing down from the mountains to the south and at the other end by the abrupt arrival of autumn rain. But when conditions are favourable, the exceptionally high sugar levels needed for fortified wines (and which power the full bodied red table wines) are attained.

The great fortified wines are grown on a band of loam (locally called Rutherglen loam) on the lower slopes of the gentle local hills. This snakes its way around the centre and extends four kilometres (2.3 miles) to the east and five kilometres (3 miles) south of the town. It is shared by leading producers such as Morris, Chambers, Campbells and Stanton & Killeen.

Muscat is Rutherglen’s most famous fortified wine variety and conventionally regarded as its greatest. Virtually unique in the world (Cyprus, South Africa and Spain are, or have been, competitors), this distilled essence of liquid raisins achieves undreamed-of layers of complexity as it ages (and greatly oxidises) in cask. Once in a bottle, such changes cease; its only future to be drunk. Explosively rich and sweet though the Muscats are, the finish is cleansing and brisk, if not dry in the technical sense. The finish does not cloy nor seem as sweet as the plum pudding flavours of the mid palate would suggest.

Uniquely, aged, fortified white wines are produced here from the Muscadelle grape - the very junior partner to the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc used to make the sweet botrytised table wines of Sauternes. In this fortified white, it has an intense varietal aroma and flavour that is akin to a mixture of cold tea and fish oil (in the best possible sense). Toffee and butterscotch are also commonly used descriptors for a wine which has more grace than the all-powerful Muscat. Young fortified whites are a sheer delight, and can be enjoyed anywhere, any time.

- Image courtesy of Tourism Victoria

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