Raisin' Muscats

Martin Field

Raisin' Muscats

Australia's greatest fortified wines are without doubt the muscats of Rutherglen and Glenrowan from Victoria's north-east. The wines are unforgettable, their syrupy viscosity loaded with intense raisin fruit, hints of maple sugar, rose petals and, ultimately, lingering memories of brandied dark fruitcake.

Muscat is made from a brown variation of the grape known correctly as muscat blanc a petits grains, that is, white muscat with small berries. Confusingly, the grape is also frequently referred to as brown muscat, or red frontignac or, more recently as muscat a petit grains rouge.

To make muscat the grapes are left to ripen on the vines until they are almost raisined. Their juice is only partly fermented before it is fortified with grape spirit to around 18 per cent alcohol. Consequently the resultant wine is rich in fruit, alcohol and residual grape sugar. The young muscat is then combined with blends of older wines in large oak barrels to mellow and gather further complexity. In November eight Rutherglen wineries - All Saints, Bullers, Campbells, Chambers, Morris, Pfeiffer, Seppelt and Stanton and Killeen - known jointly as the Muscat of Rutherglen Network, launched a new system of classification for their muscats. Accordingly, each of their 29 muscats will carry a standardised logo identifying its status in ascending order of quality and price, the tiers of classification being: Rutherglen Muscat, Classic, Grand, and Rare. The wineries anticipate that this classification will enable consumers to easily distinguish between the different styles and complexities available.

Not in the network but worthy of note are the muscats of Baileys of Glenrowan and Booths of Taminick. The latter, I should add, is relatively inexpensive and one of the hidden delights of that region. I'll regret telling you that.

I don't pop my synthetic closure for everyone I see

Cork manufacturers must be wondering if their days are numbered with news in October that Lindemans, one of Australia's biggest wine makers, has made a revolutionary switch from corks to synthetic closures for the six wines in its inexpensive "Bin" range.

Announcing the change and setting what could be a significant trend, Lindemans chief winemaker, Phillip John, claimed, "Now when [consumers] open a wine, it will be perfect, every time." The Lindemans move, taken no doubt in response to numerous reports about cork tainted wines, assumes widespread consumer acceptance of plastic closures. This could prove to be a major gamble.

Other wine companies have had their share of disasters following the introduction of synthetic "corks", with consumers complaining that they are difficult to extract from bottles, and with one company, Boyntons of Bright, reporting the loss of an entire vintage due to their use.

Consumer attitudes to this change will become apparent over the next few years but in the meantime the Lindemans move to synthetics must concern cork suppliers. For just one wine in their line-up, the Bin 65 Chardonnay, 1998 production was 1.5 million cases, that's 18 million natural corks no longer required. I can already hear cork industry CEOs popping corks, and blood vessels, as they weep into their champagne.

Martin Field