The Muscat

The Muscat

Back in 1997 while working at Baileys in North East Victoria I fell in love with their luscious fortified Muscats. I thought one day it’d be great to produce one for myself. Well this is it!

Arriving back to the Barossa I found that our neighbour Wally Krieg, just down the road here on Gods Hill Road, had some old vine Muscat growing in his vineyard. The Dutschke Muscat was underway.

This Muscat is made by harvesting the grapes when very ripe, almost raisined, then crushed and fortified with grape spirit during the initial stages of fermentation. The grape spirit prevents any further fermentation and preserves the unique Muscat flavours and natural grape sweetness. The wine is then clarified and put to barrel, to mature untouched for years. By blending different vintages of Wally’s Muscat together, an average age of 10 years and a complexity of flavours from years in oak is achieved. Traces of the very old Muscat I brought back from Bailey’s also contribute to the richness and depth of this special drop.

One may find characters of fruitcake, toffee, raisins, coffee and butterscotch. These flavours combined with the natural grape sweetness, oak and alcohol all go together to produce a wine style uniquely Australian.

Best consumed with a good mate on a cold night, or even poured over vanilla ice cream. Great stuff!

 

Winemaker:	Wayne Dutschke
Vineyard:	Wally Krieg’s Lyndoch vineyard
Region:	Gods Hill Road, Lyndoch, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Varieties:	100% Muscat (Red and Black Frontignac)
Alcohol:	19.0%
Oak Maturation:	Aged in old seasoned Hogsheads (300 litre)
Average age:	10 years

92 points – James Suckling 2019

Some fresh and quite fragrant fruit on offer here. This has a very smooth-honed palate. Smooth and fresh and quite elegant at the finish. Drink now.