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Halliday Wine Companion
TASTERS PICK - TOP 100 WINES Produced using a modified solera system that has been in operation since the late 20th century, using 1986 muscadelle as the base. A blend of vines aged between 40 and 100-plus years. Delivers a finely nuanced fortified masterclass equivalent to the second or Classic classification. Classic, indeed, in the Chambers style, which effortlessly mingles dried fruits, malt biscuit and rancio walnut nuttiness with a richness of spice and floral aromatics in vanilla, cardamom and bergamot. Heady, fine and yet so complex and fresh. What value! 375ml. Published 09 Dec 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Jeni Port
The Real Review
Medium-full tawny brown in the glass with a yellow meniscus; aged toffee/caramel aromas with a malt, old leather armchair and tealeaf overtones; the wine is very complex and mellow in the mouth with measured sweetness. It's not a great sugar bomb, but impresses with flavour rather than sugar. 03 Feb 2025 The Real Review - Huon Hooke
James Suckling
“Seriously complex and inviting, with sweet aromas of orange cake, dried fruit, treacle tart and spiced poached apples. The palate is full-bodied and generous, with notes of caramelized pear tarte tatin, vanillin, tea leaves, mocha and dates. Intensely focused and generous. Exceptional. Drink or hold. Screw cap” James Suckling - October 17 2024
“Riveting aromas of Earl Grey tea, spiced date, mocha and cardamon pod, with subtle lilt of rancio. To speak in greater depth would take me well beyond this space. Put it this way, this is among the worlds very greatest fortified expressions. Nary a degree of excessive sweetness, clad to gently unctuous, mid weighted bones. The finish, palpably dry, such is the presence and savoury aura. These wines don’t die. I almost prefer this to the Grand muscadelle, despite the younger wines involved. Drink or hold….forever. Screw Cap.” James Suckling - Ned Goodwin MW August 9, 2023
Halliday Wine Companion
“The aromatics light up this impressive classic level muscadelle (aka topaque). Bergamot, cardamom, malt, dried fruit, butterscotch and a developing nuttiness beguile. Delicious harmony and complexity with a solera base wine from '86, bringing both freshness and aged warmth and intensity in dark malt biscuit, plum pudding, toffeed nuts and caramel. Smooth and luscious as. 375ml.” Jeni Port - Halliday 2026
“Equivalent to the Classic Rutherglen Muscat classification, this amber beauty retains the essence of Muscadelle flavour, roasted nuts, tea leaves, malt and toffee - within a smoothly honed, deep, sweet palate of some obvious complexity. The blender’s art is right here on display to be celebrated” Halliday Wine Companion 2022 JP
'A wine that Stephen Chambers has placed outside the normal Rutherglen classification system, 'old vine' rather than 'old wine'. Yet this is clearly much older than the entry point wine, now with edges of brown, the flavours distinctly more complex, with a burnt spice savoury edge to the toffee, cold tea and Christmas cake flavours. Exceptional value." James Halliday
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Alcohol: 17.9%
Glucose & Fructose: 305.1g/L
pH: 3.53
Titratable Acidity: 5.4 g/L
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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 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 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 Old Vine its quality must be good to very good. Age alone is not a determinant of quality.
The Old Vine Muscadelle is produced using a modified solero, which has been in operation since the late 20th Century and was established by WB Chambers (5th Generation) utilising a 1986 vintage Muscadelle as the base. It is possible that a very small amount of the original wine maybe still in the solero.
The solera consists of 3 levels. The first is a series of small barrels (hogsheads and puncheons) with levels 2 and 3 being 2300 litre casks. It is from level 3 that 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.
