Muscadelle, which you might know as a minor white Bordeaux variety, was one of the originally misidentified varieties planted in Australia. It wasn’t until 1976 that it was properly identified, after years of being recognized as a great variety to produced sweet white fortified wines. The Grand Muscadelle is a multi-generational wine with base stock set down in the late 1890’s by W.H. Chambers (3rd generation). It was originally a second cask of the Rare Muscadelle, though a decision was made sometime ago by W.B. Chambers (5th generation) to separate it out and make it a slightly younger version of the Muscadelle when compared to the Rare.
The grapes were harvested late in the season to achieve maximum ripeness. Once the fruit was crushed and de-stemmed, the must was pressed and the juice was fortified with a neutral grape spirit to reach 18-19% alcohol. (If the sugar levels weren’t high enough, the grapes were sometimes soaked in the press overnight.) The resulting wine was then placed into large oak barrels for maturation, leaving single vintages and individual harvesting dates together as they tend to exhibit the same characteristics. After this first aging period, the wines were then graded to determine their final tier designation (Rutherglen, Classic, etc.) and the Grand designation batches entered the solera system in 100-5000L used oak casks. The wine was then aged and bottled on demand with a cross flow filtration. No fining.