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VINOUS Angus Hughson - Australian Ark
'This knockout NV Grand Topaque Rutherglen (2024 release), with components going back to the 1890s, presents an outstanding mix of aged nuances, vitality and freshness. It is a pure showstopper, with a seamlessly integrated blend of coffee grounds, mahogany, roasted nuts, leather and cold tea complexity. Luscious sweetness, fine acidity and a voluptuous texture come together beautifully and deliver a finish of extreme length. What a wine.' VINOUS Angus Hughson - Australian Ark
“A tasting with the laconic Stephen Chambers is like stepping back through time thanks to a family winemaking history of six generations and an enviable cellar of largely old wood in every shape and size. While there is a range of still wines to be found here, it is the top-rank fortified Grand and Rare Muscat and Muscadelle that are truly extraordinary because of the family’s vast cellar of aged wines. The lesser wines are good and the table wines variable, but the upper levels are where Chambers shines. The Grand and Rare Topaque, in particular, are wines that simply must be tasted by fans of international fortified wines.” VINOUS Angus Hughson - Australian Ark
The Real Review - Huon Hooke
Opaque, impenetrable black-ish colour, that stains the glass and moves very slowly when swirled, leaving a residue of green-ish yellow on the walls of the glass. Very old, mellow, smoky complexities showing considerable rancio. The palate is very sweet, luscious and aged with smoked toffee, malt, molasses and praline flavours that linger on endlessly accompanied by a very high level of sweetness. A great old fortified wine, which retains freshness and vitality in the face of great aged complexity and concentration. The rancio and other savoury factors result in a surprisingly dry and refreshing aftertaste. 03 Feb 2025 The Real Review - Huon Hooke
James Suckling
“A deep tawny-molasses hue. Old wines clearly involved in the meld. Scents of sticky date pudding, Indian spice rack, mahogany, walnut husk and ginger crystal. Delving deep, muscadelle's fermented lime chutney DNA is loud and clear. An impenetrably dense wine. A chiaroscuro of dark and light, as a lilt of volatility imparts length and levity to the dense, saturated palate. Screw cap. Drink or hold. Indefinitely.” JAMES SUCKLING Ned Goodwin MW
Halliday Wine Companion
Fortifieds traditionally end the meal; this world-class fortified deserves to be its star. This is blood, sweat and tears stuff with a base wine laid down in the 19th century and added to every year. It delivers super complexity and a delicious, sweet intensity as it slowly unfolds in layers of rich fruitcake, dried fruits and prune, honey, malt, and hints of dark coffee grounds guided by clean, bright, neutral spirit. The blender's art living large. 375ml. Jeni Port - Halliday Wine Companion 2026
“The base wines for this fortified were laid down in the 19th century, then added to almost every year since. In the glass, you smell, taste and absorb history. Take in the charm and warmth of sweet plum pudding, rich prune and raisin, fruit and nut dark chocolate, honey and so much more. And so fresh and clean in spirit. Magnificent, indeed.” HALLIDAYWINE COMPANION 2024 JP
Fortifieds traditionally end the meal; this world-class fortified deserves to be its star. This is blood, sweat and tears stuff with a base wine laid down in the 19th century and added to every year. It delivers super complexity and a delicious, sweet intensity as it slowly unfolds in layers of rich fruitcake, dried fruits and prune, honey, malt, and hints of dark coffee grounds guided by clean, bright, neutral spirit. The blender's art living large. 375ml.
“Oh my…I could inhale the beauty of this Muscadelle all day: so mellow, warm, inviting, fuelling the imagination…” “And the palate, well, that is no disappointment” Halliday Wine Companion 2022 JP
"It's the end of a day's tasting, and there's no way I'm going to spit out wines of this world-class quality. Malt, mocha, wild honey, caramel and every exotic spice you can think of - all these and more flavours blaze the mouth until you have swallowed it, when the aftertaste is wondrously fresh." James Halliday
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Alcohol: 17.1%
Glucose & Fructose: 346.9 g/L
pH: 3.53
Titratable Acidity: 8.1 g/L -
Produced from a minor white Bordeaux variety of the same name, these grapes are harvested late in the season to achieve maximum ripeness. Any sugar levels in excess of 15 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 juice is fortified with neutral grape spirit to between 16% alcohol. The neutral spirit is used to maximise the primary fruit characters of the variety. The wine is settled in stainless steel tank prior to cross flow filtration; after which the alcohol adjusted to between 18 and 19% prior to transfer to cask for maturation. The individual vineyards and vintages are left in cask until blending. Cask volumes vary from 900 litres up to 5000 litres.
In order for an individual wine to be considered for the Special 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 Grand Muscadelle is produced using a modified solero, which has been in operation since the late 19th Century and was established by WH Chambers (3rd Generation). It is possible that a very small amount of the original wine maybe still in the solero.
The solero consists of 2 stages. One is a series of small barrels (1/4 casks through to hogsheads) and the other is a 1500 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.
The wine is bottled on demand.
Deep Tawny colour with vanilla pod, coffee, toffee and caramel aromatics. A toffee mocha palate which builds to a mouth filling lusciousness. Maintains an elegance and ethereal quality on the palate with a finish that lasts for minutes.
