Hello All

The Muscats and Tokays of the Rutherglen Region

I must begin by stating a bias, these wines are absolutely individual, world class and at their best, ASTONISHING. I make no attempt at being unbiased when describing them. If I get even close to their unique style, incredible complexity and great age, if I make you want to run out and buy some, then I have done my job! The complex flavours, the length, the age and the mouthfilling qualities of these wines put Bordeaux, Burgundy, indeed most other wines other than perhaps Vintage Ports and Madeira to shame.

So how are these astonishing wines made, and what are they made from? The answer to both questions is deceptively simple.

Each wine is a style not a variety and each is made from a different grape. Muscat is made from a brown coloured type of the grape Muscat a Petits Grains known locally as Brown Muscat, and Tokay is made from Muscadelle, a grape better known for a small role in the sweet wines of Bordeaux. In both cases the grapes are grown in this hot sun drenched region and allowed to hang on the vine long after the table grapes are ripe soaking up that heat, turning it into sugar, and then concentrating this sugar and the acid as the grape shrivels. In this way the grapes often reach 16-20 degrees Baume (each degree Baume roughly equates to one % alcohol after fermentation) quite naturally which means the resultant wine will be both sweet and rich.


The grapes are then picked and crushed. This in itself is a difficult job due to the raisined grapes and intense sugar levels. Next comes the fermentation, the use of yeast to turn the sugar into alcohol. Many makers, Chambers included, do not even start fermenting in some wines (Tokay) or in very ripe years. Either way, the short fermentation is stopped rather like Port by the addition of high quality brandy spirit that kills the yeast leaving all that rich sugary sweetness and flavour.

The next step involves time and patience. The young wine is cleaned then put into oak barrels of varying sizes to age and develop. No new oak is used for this process as the added flavour would not work with the wine, in fact, most of the makers feel that the older the oak the better. Most of these wineries are full of a myriad of barrels of varying sizes and some of great age. The rest of the process is time.

What happens now is controlled oxidation. Over time, lots of time, small amounts of air get in through the oak to affect the wine, and through these same very small openings tiny amounts of the wines evaporate (locally this evaporated liquid is known as the "angel's share"). The effect is two fold

Colour

The oxidation causes colour and flavour changes in the wine. Muscat when young is reddish brown but time and oxygen turns it brown, then eventually olive green particularly on the rim. Tokay starts out lighter with golden tints but follows the same pattern with very old Muscat and Tokay looking quite similar.
Texture given the loss through evaporation both wines become noticeably thicker, even oily. In fact, very old wines, and there are some 100 years and more old, look and have the texture of Treacle or Molasses.

Flavour

Time adds to the complexity of the wines with older wines showing many aromas and flavours that were not present in the young wines. Most noticeable among these is 'rancio', a term much used with Sherries and Ports and which means, at least as well as I can explain it, a mixture of volatility and other substances (aldehydes for the chemists amongst us) which stop the sweet wine from smelling and tasting over sweet or cloying. In fact, all the flavours concentrate and intensify until older wines are quite literally explosive in the mouth.

So what can I expect from Muscat and Tokay?

Muscat has an aroma that can be described as fruity, with smells of grape, raisins, orange peel, rancio brandy spirit and more plus a palate of all of this and more including incredibly intense sweetness, and many other flavours that I can't find words for.
Tokay has all of these plus a characteristic flavour and aroma from the Muscadelle grape that has been described as cold tea, fish oil, or malt extract, all right, but all wrong ... you'll need to try the wine to know what I mean.

Producers to watch for
Chambers Rosewood
Morris
Stanton and Killeen
Baileys
Campbells
Brown Brothers
All Saints

Wines to try
Chambers Liqueur Muscat and Tokay (younger) Grande Muscat
and Rare Muscat and Tokay (very special, very, very old)

Morris Canister Series (younger) or Old Premium Liqueur (older)

Stanton and Killeen Special Old Liqueur

Baileys Warby and Founder Range (younger) and Winemakers Selection
(older)

Campbells Merchant Prince

Brown Brothers

All Saints Lyrebird Range

Bullers Caliope Rare Muscat and Tokay

I once was privileged enough to try some 100 year old Muscat from Chambers. It was so dark and thick you almost could not pour it! It looked like treacle and in the mouth was explosive, almost searing in its intensity and the flavour stayed with me for ages, longer than any other wine experience. it is this wine, when blended in with medium and fresher wine, which makes these old blends so sensational to try.

If you take nothing else away from these columns you must try these incredible wine experiences. Some of these wines should be available near you, certainly Chambers and Morris at least are available in the US and over time more will become available. Any of these are available direct from Australia also.

Preaching to the choir here, Gavin.

5% of my cellar is high end OZ Muscats and Tokays.

Let's not get the word out too fast now.

Dr T,

I'm with you! 7% of my collection is OZ Muscat and Tokay, although admittedly not what you'd call "high end" (Bullers Fine Muscat and Chambers Rosewood Tokay). I've acquired them with the intention of enjoying them over a period of many years, although I have a devil of a time keeping my hands off them.

Gavin, I saw a comment here recently that I thought was erroneous. To paraphrase, the poster commented that desert wines should be consumed early in life, and that cellaring conditions were very important to maintaining quality of the wine.

My general understanding is that these wines are nearly impervious to climactic conditions (although, of course, you wouldn't want to intentionally abuse them) and continue to evolve gracefully for decades, almost regardless of their storage conditions.

As with any issue, the truth is probably either "somewhere in between" or "neither", but would you care to comment?

Gavin - awesome info as usual. After buying some of the Buller Muscat (didn't we all???) I was wondering about how these wines were made.

Thanks!

Gavin

Agree. From my anecdotal experience when a once opened 3/4 full Chambers Muscat "disappeared" behind the maple syrup in the fridge, only to be "discovered" 5 weeks later, there was no noticeable deterioration. I believe Parker when he says time is on our side here.

Stemor, my man

Thanks again for the Buller. Hope all is well.