“This is not a ‘blow-to-the-head’ wine at 18.5% ABV, albeit not a wine you’d skull. It had a lovely cassis-filled palate and a hint of spice at the finish,” writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER. 

Recently, 17 Rutherglen wineries came to Canberra to provide tastings at Old Parliament House over a Friday and Saturday. 

I attended the event on a cold, clear afternoon with mate Tom and we wandered around the exhibits, crowded but not like Flinders Street railway station on a Friday night, as was the case at this event last year.

The crowds at each tasting stand were more subdued this time, although occasionally a touch pushy.

Some of the wineries were offering fortifieds, a style of wine that exemplifies the Rutherglen experience, with Stanton & Killeen providing a separately ticketed event where participants got to taste three fortified wines, including a 1995 vintage.

That bottle was still labelled “Port”. From September 1 2011, Australian producers could no longer use the protected European geographical indications “Port” and “Sherry” on newly labelled wines. Hence, the 2022 Stanton & Killeen wine that we tasted is just labelled “fortified.” 

In her speech to those 20 or so people gathered in the Old Parliament House bar area, Wendy Killeen explained that the 2022 was a long-awaited product as there had been no vintage fortified produced in 2020 or 2021. Apparently, 2022 was cooler than earlier years and hence less likely to produce firmer tannic tastes in a blend that features durif and a number of Portuguese varietals such as tinto cao and tinta roriz.

This is not a “blow-to-the-head” wine at 18.5% ABV, albeit not a wine you’d skull. It had a lovely cassis-filled palate and a hint of spice at the finish.

This is one to put away to taste with the grandchildren (fingers crossed, hint, hint), that is up to 20 years. It will only get better, more mellow with time, unlike the magician with an anger management problem: every time he gets upset, he pulls his hare out. 

I commend the organisers for having a calmer and more considered tasting opportunity with Ms Killeen taking us through the type of grapes grown and the importance of climate and the blending process where the sweetness of the fruit, the tannin profile and the addition of spirit in the right quantity at the correct time are all factors in producing an excellent wine.

Her calm and fulsome explanations contrasted with the hubbub in the main tasting area. 

The end of the event brought a sour note to an otherwise lovely afternoon: we had thought it was closing at 5.30pm, as expressed on our tickets, but we were ushered out at 5pm so we didn’t really have a chance to taste the wines of at least four exhibitors.

I’d welcome this event again next year and would suggest that there are more mini-events like the Stanton and Killeen fortified tasting where you get the benefit of the winemaker’s knowledge and a considered view of some wines rather than entering the push and shove of a crowd baying to get a sample of wine. 

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