The Rutherglen region is in north-eastern Victoria, near the Murray River border with New South Wales and is celebrated around the world for its production of fortified wines such as Muscat and Tokay (Topaque) and medium to heavy styles of Shiraz and Durif. Rutherglen town is located 280 km north of Melbourne and was named after the Scottish town Rutherglen just outside Glasgow.
The region’s first vines were planted in the 1850 and it was one of the few Victorian wine regions to survive the phylloxera outbreak thanks to the local Viticultural College providing American vine stock that was resistant to the disease.
Rutherglen region is flat country at an average altitude of between 150m to 250m. The climate is warm and dry with good rainfall during the growing season. Being well inland it has large temperature variations, both between summer and winter and between night and day: warm, sunny days and cool clear nights make for excellent ripening conditions.