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Rutherglen Wineries A unique climate, commitment, endurance, skill, innovation and accident have coalesced in Rutherglen to create incredibly complex, unique, world renowned wines and a wine region culture which has a deep soul, a sense of history and purpose, and a dose of good old fashioned bush humour and hospitality.Climate Rutherglen has the same heat degree days summation as the Clare Valley in South Australia (1770), and the same sunshine hours as the Gold Coast in Queensland. This combination of great sunshine and not too hot not too cold allows many grape varieties to develop the full flavours for which Rutherglen wines are so famous. Cool nights, warm days and a normally long dry autumn, allow Muscat and Tokay grapes to achieve high levels of sweetness and flavour. Rutherglen reds such as Shiraz and Durif develop a rich core of fruit, and firm natural tannin structure which combine to make them great cellaring wines, and enable them to be made into powerful vintage, and complex tawny ports. Skill and Innovation Great examples of Sparkling Shiraz, Pinot Chardonnay, flavourful and long lived Riesling, Marsanne and Chardonnay, Sangiovese, and Gamay attest to the successful application of modern winemaking and viticultural techniques learnt, developed and embraced over the years. The Winemakers of Rutherglen have their own specialist vine nursery and meet on a monthly basis at Senior and Junior Vignerons Dinners, where wine styles from around the world are analysed, discussed and inevitably consumed. Many winemakers, viticulturalists and journalists from around the globe attend these dinners. Some leave with a clear head the next morning. Commitment and Endurance Many of the great winemaking houses of Rutherglen which sprang up in the gold rush days of the mid nineteenth century are still owned and run by the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the original family owners. These families have made and sold wine from their cellar doors through drought, depression, the great phylloxera plague, and a couple of world wars for over 150 years. The legacy of winemaking skills and ancient stocks is being carefully passed on to a younger generation to carve out their own niche in a world characterized by big business and short term greed. Accident No self respecting Rutherglen winemaker would admit that everything they made occurred according to plan. One only has to be reminded that the name of the Rutherglen township was changed from Barkly, following the offer of a few beers at the local pub, to be aware that accident and adventure contribute much to the character of the region and its wines. Rutherglen doesn’t take itself too seriously. 
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