Doug Powers

9.3

[Half-bottle] This lovely sweet orange peel and apricot Australian Muscadelle is a great stickie for dessert with some Junior’s Gooey Butter Cake from Costco, long finish, still miss our couple of visits with Bill Chambers at the winery (first in 1989)!! — 5 months ago

with Jim

Matt Perlman

9.3

This stuff was wild. Intensely sweet obviously but with a subtly leafy, tarry almost tobacco like finish. Pair with a cigar? — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Sunday lunch with friends - no formal notes. An excellent finish to a meal and a staple in an Australian winter. Notes of fruit cake, not as liquid raisins as the Muscat. Fortified wines from the Rutherglen district in Victoria are one of Australia’s gifts to the world of wine. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Aromas and palate of liquid raisins. Also a woody note. Remains fresh enough without getting too medicinal. A great nightcap in an Australian winter. From 375ml. — 6 years ago

James Gourley

9.4

Really interesting wine. Balanced fruit, great acidity. Started maybe a little chewy but smoothed out nicely after sitting for a couple of hours. — 7 years ago

Carsten Rathsack

9.8

Dark toffee in colour, incredibly viscous and concentrated. Notes of honey, toffee, lovely sweetness — 8 years ago

Beth

9.5

Bought this as a present for someone else, not normally a fan of the sweet stuff but this was awesome. Very drinkable before we knew it the bottle was gone. — 8 years ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.4

Selection of small and super lignified bunches.
This selection wants to honor David Herd founder and winemaker of Auntsfield site in 1892. He had been making wine till 1905 and then his son-in-law kept his legacy until the 1931.
Then probhitionism came in NZ and all the vines were displanted at Auntsfield till the Cowley family arrived and put everything in place.
The story is that the Cowleys have a bottle of old fortified Muscat made by David Herd(born in Rutherglen) in his last year of work at the property in 1905 and every barrel of this wine his blessed with a teaspoon of that syrup..."so that we can lick the spoon" Ben says.
The wine is an explosion of flavors, tasters say that blindly is hard to say it is a pinot noir.
It is rich, complex and literally explodes in every direction in your mouth.
Hard to explain, an experience you have to go through yourself.
Extensive persistence on the palate.
1500 bottle only made in the best vintages obviously. — a year ago

Doug Powers

9.5

Sweet toffee, lovely citrus fruits, and dried Sunmaid raisins as well, suave, balanced, rich sweet flavors, such a lovely, easy-drinking sweet dessert wine, also Level 2 “Classic” like the Chambers from last night, excellent!! — 2 years ago

with Jim

Andy Thomson

9.1

Good aged character. Still lots of fruit and body. Delicious! — 3 years ago

with Cheryl

Bob McDonald

9.6

See recent notes for the Stanton and Killeen Grand Muscat. This is the Topaque (cannot call it Tokay any more) made from the Muscadelle grape. Like the Grand Muscat the average blended age is 15 to 20 years. Very similar in flavour profile with the Muscat, the latter probably a bit sweeter with more molasses notes. This Topaque is a tiny bit more bitter with caramel, toffee and a lot of liquid raisin character. Thoroughly delicious. These old Rutherglen fortifieds are one of Australia’s gifts to the vinous world. — 6 years ago

Case James

9.1

Sweet raisin smell when you first open the bottle.
The colour is an eye catching dark plum red.
Dark Berry fruits on the tip of the tounge being very sweet and moving down to the back and getting that acidity and earthy/minty taste, ending with an overall raisin after taste — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

8.9

Deep crimson with blue/purple tinges. Aromas of spicy red cherries. Medium weight palate. All the Portuguese red varieties normally used to make Port but making in this case a very savoury dry red — 8 years ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

8.9

Absolutely in great shape
Just not an outstanding wine, but very economical too
Better than an average Oz new release of any sort — 8 years ago

Norma Normington

9.6

Probably one of my very favorites. A gorgeous wine from old vine grapes with five percent of white Muscaldelle which really rounds out the finish. Amazing 🥂 — a year ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

The perfect accompaniment to plum pudding. Very toffee and raisiny with intensity at 18.5% ABV. My son who rarely drinks anything loved it. Don’t worry. I’m sure I haven’t created a monster. He still went for his regular 10K run on Boxing Day. Rutherglen fortifieds are one of Australia’s gifts to the world of wine. — 2 years ago

Doug Powers

9.6

[This is the “Classic” level classification in Rutherglen, Level 2 out of 4 levels in increasing levels of concentration.] We first met Mr. Bill Chambers in 1989 at the winery, and tasted his INCREDIBLE dessert wines. We finally made it back in December of 2023, and sadly, Bill passed away about 6 weeks after our visit this time — RIP, Mr. Chambers, my only regret is that we cannot find this “Classic” level in the U.S.
Absolutely fabulous Muscadelle, smooth, super complex, this last visit to Rutherglen we realized the “Classic” level was our collective sweet spot, long, lingering finish, such a fantastic dessert wine!! — 2 years ago

with Jim

Kristin Cancellieri

9.0

Delicious paired with dark chocolate. Perfect ending to a meal — 4 years ago

with Lorraine

Bob McDonald

9.8

This was a real treat. Concentration and Intensity off the charts. Liquid raisins, toffee chocolate and fruit cake with the viscosity and consistency of engine oil. Leading Australian wine scribe James Halliday has never given 💯 points to a table wine but he gave 💯 to this fortified, as did James Suckling 💯 and Huon Hooke 98 points. The base vintages in this can go back to 100 years ( the average base sits between 20 and 40 years). Rutherglen Muscat is one of Australia’s gifts to the vinous world. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

A great fortified for Christmas but best suited to the Northern Hemisphere. Mouth coating textures of Raisin, Caramel and Toffee. Best served slightly chilled in an Australian summer. Delicious. Finished another half bottle 22 weeks later on 8th July 2019 ie the middle of Winter. Previous notes apply - Liquid Raisins and milk chocolate with incredible intensity. — 8 years ago