96/100 Halliday Wine Companion 2023

TROPHY: Rutherglen Wine Show 2022 – Best Australian Vintage Forified Red (Vintage Port)
TROPHY: Cowra Wine Show 2022 – Best Fortified Wine in Show
TOP GOLD: Rutherglen Wine Show 2022
TOP GOLD: Cowra Wine Show 2022
GOLD: Victorian Wine Show 2023
GOLD: Victorian Wine Show 2022
GOLD: Riverina Wine Show 2022
GOLD: Rutherglen Wine Show 2021
SILVER Cowra Wine Show 2023
SILVER Cowra Wine Show 2019
BRONZE Riverina Wine Show 2023
BRONZE Victorian Wine Show 2021
BRONZE Cowra Wine Show 2021

Rutherglen enjoyed good winter rainfall in July and August, with above average spring and early summer rainfall, particularly in November and early December. There was talk in agricultural circles of another La Nina weather pattern, along with predictions of summer and autumn rains, leaving us feeling very nervous about the prospect of another wet vintage. Fortunately, January through to April proved to be incredibly dry and very warm, which allowed all varieties to ripen fully and with very low disease load, contributing to the high quality of the vintage. Yields were low, with some varieties (particularly Shiraz) cropping between 30-40% below average. Overall we were around 15-20% down across the vintage. Due to the warm and dry conditions, supplementary irrigation was required to maintain good soil moisture levels and canopy health.

Vintage was back to an earlier start, commencing on 16th February, with Pinot Grigio from the Alpine Valley. From there, vintage rolled on fairly briskly, seeing us harvest fruit every day for the next five weeks, until the end of March. Ripening across all varieties was very even, with most white fruit being harvested before the red fruit was started. The last fruit harvested was Muscadelle for our Topaque wines, picked on 23rd April.

Quality is high, with white wines showing intense fruit aromas and flavours, and good levels of acidity. Our red wines have fantastic colours, great fullness and depth of flavour, ripe tannins and length. Our Portuguese varieties for our port styles performed very strongly this year, our Muscats are rich, with genuine varietal characters, while our Topaques are outstanding.

This wine is a blend of four different parcels. The first parcel was 100% Tinta Roriz, the second parcel was 100% Touriga, the third parcel a blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barocca and Tinta Cao (picked as a field blend for co-fermentation), and the fourth parcel was 100% Sousao. Each parcel was hand-picked and destemmed into an open fermenter, then crushed by foot. A cold maceration occurred for around 4 days, with foot treading every three hours. Fermentation occurred naturally, with a combination of hand plunging and foot treading occurring four times daily. Each parcel was pressed just prior to fortification to maximize the extraction from the skins.

The base wines were allowed to settle, before being blended, fined and clarified prior to bottling.

The 2018 Christopher’s VP has a dark purple red colour. The nose is lifted and perfumed, with fruits of the forest and dark chocolate notes, and lovely brandy spirit giving complexity. The palate is elegant and drier in style, with ripe fore to mid-palate fruit leading to a long and chalky tannin finish.

As a younger wine – dark chocolate and raspberry soufflé. As an older wine – Stilton cheese (a classic!!)