Scotch College

More than a Rutherglen Red

The wines of All Saints Estate at Rutherglen were the focus of the Wine and Food Society's gathering on 13th May.

Founded in 1860, All Saints is perhaps best known for its red wines and its excellent fortified wines, both features of the area, but the winery's marketing guru, Kevin Bascomb ('68), showed members wines stretching right across the spectrum of styles.

Explaining that All Saints is now largely a cellar door and wine club operation, Kevin traced the history of the winery from its earliest days to developments by present owner, Peter Brown ('61).

On arrival, members were offered an unusual sparkling wine produced solely from chenin blanc grapes. It was fruity yet dry and tuned up our palates.

The first bracket of wines comprised a 1998 Marsanne, a 1998 Orange Muscat and a 1997 Carlyle Chardonnay, three very different wines of good quality. Marsanne is not widely grown in Australia yet this wine was from forty year-old vines.

Those present were much taken by the Orange Muscat, a dry, Italian wine with orange character on the nose. It would be an ideal accompaniment to seafood or spicy Asian dishes. The Carlyle Chardonnay was a substantial oaky wine, unfiltered with lots of flavour.

Good soil, and plenty of water, mark Rutherglen as a wine producing area. Indeed, it was one of the largest wine-growing areas in the southern hemisphere up to 1910, when phylloxera struck.

The white wines were followed by a chilled light red, the 1998 Aleatico, produced from muscat grapes grown at Mudgee. Peter Brown has recently bought the vines which will be transplanted to Rutherglen later this year. It is an unoaked wine highly suitable for drinking with a rich pizza.

The red wines Kevin presented included a 1997 Merlot with a lovely ruby colour. It is a wine which has recently become very popular in Australia for its velvety finish. My favourite was the 1996 Shiraz with its delightful and characteristic nose, plummy with a hint of spice. It could be cellared for five years but it wouldn't last that long in my house.

The 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon was a fine wine with a good seven to ten years ahead of it.

Kevin was particularly proud to present the 1996 Ruby Cabernet, the first release of this traditional big Rutherglen red. It would serve well a steak or a hearty casserole.

The tasting finished with a Classic Release Muscat, the fortified wine that has made Rutherglen famous, and which prompted Brown Brothers to buy All Saints in 1992. All present agreed that this must have been a fine acquisition.

David Thomson