It must gladden the hearts of long-term devotees of Victorian wine to learn that Rutherglen is well and truly on the way back. This famous region, which was largely (and possibly rather justifiably) bypassed by the white wine boom, is set to enter another long-term period of importance and prosperity as a maker of rich, ripe and flavoursome red wines. Furthermore, Southcorp Wines even has enough confidence in the future of the fortified local specialities of muscat and tokay to have contracted to receive the production of significant new plantings of these grapes. It wasn’t that long ago that many people were wondering whether or not these famous regional styles would make it into the next century. The makers of this uniquely Australian wine have been waiting for generations to find out how it can pay its way, and The Wine Spectator may well have helped provide the answer. Its recent rave review of Bill Chambers’ Rare NV Tokay (score 98/100) will only add fuel to the growing awareness of the style in the US. And if this market catches on, look out. You won’t be buying classic eight year-old fortified material for under $20 a bottle any more. Sensible advice is to stock up now. Supported by excellent wines from Morris, All Saints and Stanton & Killeen, Campbell’s Bobbie Burns Shiraz (from 1992 and 1994 especially) have done wonders for the image of NE Victorian red. While most Rutherglen makers have steadfastly clung to the view that old, classic wine labels are the way to go – and if they’re not old enough yet to be a classic they must surely become so sooner or later, no matter how badly designed they might appear – Campbells have led the way with a bright new contemporary package and a wine that stacks up to anything in its price and style range in Australia. Other local makers might well take note. The Bobbie Burns shows that Rutherglen can make modern, more sophisticated styles made with distinctive oak treatment, while the Morris and S&K wines are equally valid as riper, fleshier cask-aged styles with less new oak content and higher pH levels. Most of the new plantings in Rutherglen are shiraz, which by the year 2001 should be producing around four to five times present volumes. An as yet unsolved dilemma for growers is finding out exactly where this fruit will be processed to wine – since it cannot be transported from the phylloxera-declared region as juice or grapes – but the large companies are presently squaring up to this issue. The largest of the new developments is a 300 acre vineyard initiated and managed by viticulturist Michael Murtagh, from which the bulk of production is contracted to Southcorp, which has also established similar arrangements with other new operations. According to local winemaker Chris Pfeiffer, the beauty of Rutherglen is its consistency of climate which enables fruit to ripen every year. Its weather is generally reliable until the end of April, enabling the full ripening of flavours and tannins. It will not support high-cropping viticulture – the local maximum crop for red grapes is 4-5 tonnes per acre – so most of the crop is deeply flavoured and concentrated. The region’s average crop is a mere 3 tonnes per acre.
