Rare Muscadelle
375mL. Exotic coffee, malt, vanilla bean and mocha aromas and flavours which linger on the palate long after tasting. The base for the Rare wines is sourced only from exceptional material; the very best we can produce. This wine is meticulously maintained and is produced using a modified solera, which has been in operation since the late 19th Century.
Serve after dinner with a platter of soft cheeses, nuts and caramel based puddings. Once opened the wine can be enjoyed over many months.
Halliday Wine Companion - 2023 Rating: 98 2021 Rating: 98 2019 Rating: 99
Langton's Top 100 - Classified Excellent
Wine & Spirits Magazine - 2020 (US) Top 100 Wineries—World
Wine Enthusiast - 2021(US) Rating: 97
Alcohol: 18.0%
Standard Drinks: 5.3 per 375ml
"The dark mahogany and olive rim to the hue turns out to be a sure sign of a wine that is as magnificently complex as it ever was. It's absolutely certain the wine is being sold in tiny quantities to protect the quality of the solera. Its viscosity as it slowly pours from the neck of the bottle is yet another sign. The explosive impact of the first taste is otherworldly as dark spices, tea, butterscotch and vibrant, mouth watering acidity carries all the aromas and flavours that have gone before to a long, lingering finish and aftertaste." James Halliday
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Alcohol: 17.2 %
Glucose & Fructose: 328.4 g/L
pH: 3.65
Titratable Acidity: 7.2g/L -
Produced from the minor white Bordeaux variety of the same name, these grapes are harvested late in the season to achieve maximum ripeness. Any sugar levels exceeding 16 baumé is desired. Typically harvest occurs mid-April to early May.
Once the fruit is crushed and de-stemmed the ‘must’ is placed directly into the press. Any fermentation occurs on the juice at this stage. After a minimal fermentation (sometimes less than 1 baumé) the fermenting juice is fortified with neutral SVR spirit to between 18 and 19% alcohol. The neutral spirit is used to maximise the primary fruit characters of the variety. The individual vineyards and vintages are matured in cask until blending. Cask volumes vary from 900 litres up to 5000 litres.
For an individual wine to be considered for Rare its quality must be very high to exceptional. For this reason a wine of this quality may only be produced once or twice in 10 years. Age alone is not a determinant of quality. The Rare Muscadelle is produced using a modified solera, which has been in operation since the late 19th Century and was established by WH Chambers (3rd Generation). It is possible to say that a very small amount of the original wine maybe still in the solera.
The solera consists of 2 stages. The first stage consists of several smaller barrels ranging from a 1/4 cask (150L) size through to puncheon (600L) size. Stage 2 is a 2200 litre cask from which the bottles are drawn. When moving the wine through the solera assessment of each barrel is undertaken to ensure absence of faults and optimum maturity. Any movement into and within the solera is dependent of having suitable young material to enter and desired maturity within the solera.
This wine demonstrates exotic coffee, malt, vanilla bean and mocha aromas and flavours which linger on the palate long after tasting. Serve after dinner with a platter of soft cheeses, nuts and caramel-based puddings. Once opened the wine can be enjoyed over many months.
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Halliday Wine Companion
98 Points Halliday Rating 2023
98 Points Halliday Rating 2021
99 Points Halliday Rating 2019It is believed that Rosewood's third-generation winemaker, Will Chambers, started this solera in the 1890s. Hence, the drinker is paying for a taste of history. It's a divine encounter with immense concentration, intensity of flavour and an expert eye on freshness, too. Devour the dense, baroque-like sweetness of caramel butterscotch, chocolate-covered citrus peel, Saunders malt extract, raisin and toasted-almond rancio flavours that never end. Magical! 375ml.
Jeni Port - Published 04 July 2022
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Halliday Wine Companion
2023 Rating: 98
2021 Rating: 98
2019 Rating: 99Langton's Top 100
Classified ExcellentWine & Spirits Magazine (US)
2020 Top 100 Wineries—WorldWine Enthusiast (US)
2021 Rating: 97
