2009 Red (Shiraz Durif)
CELLAR ... 1 to 3 years, but excellent for drinking now.
Vintage conditions
Rutherglen had another dry year with the on-going drought. The growing season was mild to start, but the heat became extreme which culminated on ‘Black Saturday’. Rutherglen Estates availability to water was critical, and resulted in our vines maintaining freshness with careful monitoring and application of irrigation in the vineyard. The decision to plant varieties which originated in warmer viticultural regions paid dividends this year, with most varieties coping remarkably well. Yields were once again down, resulting in great intensity of flavour.
Rutherglen Estates Red has been made for wine lovers who enjoy all the qualities that have made Australian red wines so popular. Blended from the two red grape varieties for which Rutherglen is most famous, Shiraz and Durif, Red – in true Rutherglen style – displays big bold flavours and a wonderful depth of colour ... to state the obvious, it is Red!
Our Red blend allows the full expression of the wonderful fruit, pepper and spice of Shiraz, with the background of rich Durif, which contributes the blackberry fruit, licorice, aniseed and chocolate characters, as well as firming the tannins for a complete red wine. Our hugely celebrated and successful Red wine offers enormous ‘bang for your buck’. Great colour, dense fruit characters of plum and cherry, with hints of spice and pepper, our Red is a mouthful of rich flavour and juicy tannins.
Varieties 85% Shiraz, 15% Durif
Region Rutherglen, North East Victoria
Harvest date March 2009
Release date July 2012
Alcohol 13.5%
Oak treatment six to nine months maturation with French and American oak
Total acid 6.0g/L
pH 3.58
Residual sugar <1.0g/L
Sydney Morning Herald - Good Living - Huon Hooke, 2 October 2012
Bargain of the week
Rutherglen Estates 'Red' Shiraz Durif, Rutherglen 2009, $14
This is a solid, regional Rutherglen red with dark colour, dried-herb/bay leaf aromas and plenty of tannin. There are smoke and dry spice aromas,too, while the taste is robust and finishes very dry. A good solid food wine, and the price makes it a gift. Drink now to six years. 13.5% alcohol. 88/100
Food: Barbequed sausages
Stockists: Dan Murphy's
The Age- Epicure,Ralph Kyte Powell, 11 September 2012
UNDER $18 - Rutherglen Estates "Red" Shiraz Durif 2009 $13-$15
A GENEROUS-natured red wine, as you would expect from the Rutherglen region, but it has some refinement, too. Cherry liqueur, coffee and liquorice aromas meet the nose, and the palate offers similar flavours in a fresh, middleweight package of easy texture and soft tannins. (Screw cap;13.5% alcohol)
Ageing? No need.
Food ideas Bangers and mash;beef ribs
Stockists include Dan Murphy's stores; 1st Choice stores
The Sunday Examiner, Winsor Dobbin, September 2012
A FEW bottles of this bargain basement wine would be the perfect antidote to these cold days at the very tail end of winter. It's a very classy quaffer that can sometimes be found on special for as low as $15. It's a typical Rutherglen red, rich; full of hearty flavours and quite spicy, but not over the top in terms of alcohol. A lip-smacking blend of shiraz and durif, this is food friendly, but also a good choice for an after work drink. A good each way bet then.
James Halliday Wine Companion 2013 - 88 Points
Bright colour; juicy and generous with redcurrant and black cherry fruit the central theme; savoury in nature with high acidity and gentle tannins, make this wine a luncheon proposition, and best consumed young. An 85/15% blend of Shiraz and Durif.
SILVER 2011 Melbourne Wine Show
BRONZE 2012 Perth Wine ShowBRONZE 2012 Melbourne Wine Show
