"ChambersRosewoodVineyardsRutherglenMuscadelle" news and stories

Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Rutherglen Muscadelle NV (non-vintage) is a Tokay style dessert wine made in Rutherglen, Australia and is 18.5%abv. It has a rather unique deep orange color that is very attractive and a nice medium/heavy body. The aroma is mild with hints of mollasses and a faint touch that I haven't noticed in other dessert wines of a nice, winy soy sauce. The taste is that of molasses and black tea brewed with slightly bitter rose petals, followed by rich buckwheat honey, and again that hint of soy sauce. It's a very nice combination of flavors. I found it locally for $17 for a 375 ml. bottle.

It is made with a blend of six to ten-year-old Muscadelle wines. This is a mildly fortified wine with the fermentation process being halted early with the addition of small amounts of neutral spirits and then the wine is aged in wooden casks in the solera. The solera style is a wine making method used in the production of Spanish sherry where some of the old wines are drawn off for bottling and then the rest are topped up by wines from the next oldest level and so on.

The wine makers say that the wine will keep for months if sealed and while I know it won't last that long in my house, it has lasted for several weeks with me partaking of a small glass every now and then as the whim strikes.