The Rutherglen Wine Region, located in North East Victoria, near the twin cities of Albury and Wodonga near the Victoria - New South Wales border has a continuous family winemaking tradition for over 140 years. It began when the gold ran out and many of the miners who had flocked to there area discovered that the climate and the rich red loam soils in the Rutherglen township were ideal for growing grapes and making fine wines. The rest they say is History. The Rutherglen Wine Region is quite small triangle immediately surrounding the townships of Rutherglen and Wahgunyah. The combination of sunny dry days and cool nights during the ripening season provides the winemakers with options for slow ripening and maximizing the flavour of the wines, particularly the famous Muscat grapes used to make
fortified wines. The region enjoys ripening temperatures comparable with other great fortified wine producing areas of the world, for example Setubal in Portugal and Frontignan in Southern France. Rutherglen's low humidity leads to a partial shrivelling (without botrytis) of the berries during and after ripening, producing an intense, very sweet style, but without the complexity of the botrytis styles. Annual rainfall: is 590mm.per year; Mean January temp: 22.3°C; Sunshine hours per day: 9.3. The long history of the wineries is due in part to the quick response in the area to the Phylloxera, disease that wiped-out most vineyards in Victoria in the 1890s. The local Viticulturial College reacyed quickly to this problem and supplied over 5,000,000 new rootlings from American phylloxera resistant
stock.
The Rutherglen Wine Region includes two districts :
Wahgunyah ;
Albury Wodonga
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