The Campbell family winemaking heritage began in 1870, when Scotsman, John Campbell vintaged his first wine from his "Bobbie Burns" vineyard. The venture prospered and by 1885 he had 15 hectares planted to vines. At this time phylloxera (a root sucking aphid), which had been infesting vineyards throughout the world, arrived in Rutherglen. Over the next decade, most of the Rutherglen vineyards were destroyed. Determined to maintain the business, John’s son, David embarked on a program of replanting vines on phylloxera resistant American rootstocks and, by 1930 18 hectares of vines were flourishing. In 1933, David’s son Allen, just 18 years old, took over the daunting task of managing the business through the Great Depression. Allen and his wife Isabel diversified and developed the Winery, Vineyards and Farm through the 30’s and 40’s and by the 1950’s the estate totalled 28 hectares of vines. In 1961 Allen’s elder son, Malcolm took up the reins of responsibility, to be joined by his brother, Colin in 1968, upon completion of his winemaking studies at Roseworthy. In the ensuing years the brothers have pursued an uncompromising goal of quality in all aspects of viticulture and winemaking. Today the vineyards total over 64 hectares and their wines are known and appreciated in major markets throughout the world including the United Kingdom, the USA and Canada.
About WineWith its lovely intense sweet floral aroma, muscat is one of the few, if not the only, grape that actually tastes like grapes. In its sweet fortified dessert form, the wine takes on characteristics of honeyed raisins. Dessert wines can be difficult to pair with food, because the rule of thumb is that you want the wine to be sweeter than the dessert or it won't taste as sweet and delicious. An easy fix--instead of trying to come up with a less-sweet dessert that won't overwhelm your beautiful finish to the meal--is to serve a cheese course for dessert, European-style. This Aussie Muscat is gorgeous with a range of cheeses, but especially blue and ripe cheddar. Serve the cheese board with fresh or dried fruits and nuts. This would make a great afternoon appetizer as well. Bon appetit! GR
Tasting NotesThis classification displays a greater level of richness and complexity, produced through the blending of selected parcels of wine, often matured in various sizes of oak cask to impart the distinctive dry ‘rancio’ characters produced from maturation in seasoned wood. The Muscats of Rutherglen are considered the “World’s Richest Wines” and bear a mark of authenticity – an oval logotype with a stylised “R” – which is only applied to the wines drawn from the great Muscat vineyards of the region. The “Muscat of Rutherglen” trademark assures the highest quality of wine exclusively sourced from the Rutherglen Wine Region. Campbells’ “house style” is typically complex and elegant, capturing a rich purity of raisin fruit flavours. Colin Campbell
