Produced from Muscat a Petit Grains, or Brown Muscat as it is more commonly known, the Rare Muscat offers a complex nose of dried raisins, candied fruit skins, ground coffee and complex rancio characters. The intense, syrupy palate explodes with molasses, dried fruit and walnuts, with drying tannins and brisk acidity to carry the amazingly intense finish.
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95 pts - Wine & Spirits:The Chambers family has been growing grapes in Rutherglen since 1858, maintain a stock of fortified wine in caskes that they treat like a solera. Steve Chambers, the family’s winemaker since 2001, pulls his Rare Muscat from barrels filled with wine that’s more than a century old. Having put his Rutherglen stickies aside for a month between tasting them and writing them up, I found the freshness of this Rare Muscat, in particular, seemed turbocharged by that interlude. Unlike some of the other ancient wines from Chambers’s cellars, this has none of the crypt and all of the autumn sunshine, its vibrancy and supple textures gaining ground after a month, even if the initial scents of roses are gone.
95 pts - Robert Parker Wine Advocate: “This luxurious offering possesses such extraordinary unctuosity, thickness, complexity, and richness that it must be tasted to be believed. It is not just a big, thick sugar ball, because it has sound underlying acidity as well as remarkable complexity and freshness. At $15 this is a sensational bargain. The wine possesses notes of smoke, roasted nuts, coffee, brown sugar, maple syrup, prunes, honey, fruitcake, overripe orange/apricots, and remarkable spicy characters. This is a riveting example of a fortified dessert wine that I enthusiastically recommend. I use the Rosewood sweeties for many charitable meals/wine tastings I donate, and guests always go ga-ga over these rarities. In summary, life is too short not to try this wine... a true Australian treasure.”
92 pts -James Halliday Wine Companion:Where the Muscadelle is yellow-gold, this is pale russet red. The fortification spirit that is added after the wine has spent a mere 24 hours on skins before it is pressed introduces an edge to the Christmas cake, raisin, orange peel and spice that define new-born Rutherglen muscat. Truly great value.”
92 pts - Wine Enthusiast:“This tawny colored Muscat is a different beast all together from the NV Muscadelle, and is a bargain for the quality. Less chocolatey and more in the citrus and herbal spectrum, it bursts with orange rind, cherry, vanilla and Christmas spices. These characters continue to the palate which is rich and of course sweet but not overly syrupy. The long, tangy, fruity finish is a treat. Sip with an orange or lemon tart.”
