With the 2024 Liquid Luxury Wine Show just around the corner, we know our home barrel owning friends are eager to showcase their best blends. To provide expert insights, I sat down with my good friend and S&K assistant winemaker, John "JP" Martin, to discuss the essential steps for ensuring success in the upcoming show.

Stanton & Killeen & The Winemakers of Rutherglen invite you to stray into the Dark Side of Wine from 2-11 August in Rutherglen, Northeast Victoria.

When the last of the sun’s rays smolder over the horizon and the winter moon emerges, the dark arts of Rutherglen will be revealed at the Dark Side of Wine. This series of immersive experiences is a festival for the curious and the bold.

Try your hand at blending aged stocks and experiment with vibrant new vintages at a series of both day and nighttime events. With Muscat and Durif varieties the intensely beating heart of the program, each experience will leave you enriched and enlivened. Enriched by the lore of Rutherglen and its wines and enlivened by the playful curiosity of its winemakers.

Each bottle holding its own secrets, the Dark Side of Wine series of Muscat events will unlock the dark mystery and beauty of this alluring wine, with deep and seductive Durif wines featured throughout the broader program.

Rutherglen is home to an incredibly diverse array of other red and white varieties, all of which will be expressed at the Dark Side of Wine.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Adriaan, S&K's Senior Winemaker, and exploring the intricacies of the winemaking process, gaining insight into the skill and dedication required to craft each bottle of S&K wine, from the careful selection and harvesting of the grapes, to the fermentation, maturation, and bottling stages. So, let's jump into a crash course of winemaking 101! 

"Great colour. Still pretty youthful with plenty of bramble fruit, touch of conserve or liqueur among the array or florals. Sweet baking spices. Excellent concentration. Really long. Balanced. Fresh feeling with excellent structure. Based on its current state and the sense of balance, I think this would look even better 20 years from now. One of the best SK VP."– Roscoe, The Prince Wine Store, Melbourne.

Roscoe's passion for our wines speaks volumes, and we're honored to share his full sentiments and tasting notes with you here.

At Stanton & Killeen, we specialise in crafting both barrel-aged and bottle-aged, fortified wines. How the fortified wine is made will determine how long you can cellar the wine and how quickly you need to drink it once opened. So, what is the difference between barrel-aged and bottle -aged, fortified wines? and how exactly are these wines made? In the world of winemaking, the production of table wine and fortified wine share certain similarities. However, applying unique winemaking techniques sets fortified wine apart, allowing for the creation of distinct flavour profiles synonymous with fortified wines. Keep reading as we deep dive into the world of fortified winemaking!

Drumroll, please! We couldn't keep it a secret any longer our very own Natasha Killeen, has been named one of the 'Top 50 Stars of 2023' by Australia's Wine Business Magazine (WBM).

S&K topped many well-known wine brands to take home the award for best wine marketing communication campaign for their Liquid Luxury campaign which promotes their at-home fortified barrel club, and they also won best wine serial publication, recognising their Quinta Quarterly magazine.

The wonderful thing about working with vines is they create a beautiful rhythm to the year. The vista always evolves and builds to a crescendo of hard work when we harvest in summer/autumn. There are many times of the year where we could lose everything – frosts, disease pressure, bushfire smoke, too much rain, too little rain...growing grapes is not for the faint-hearted! Luckily, we have Scott and Marie in the vineyard who do a fantastic job of delivering the finest fruit to the winery. This isn’t an exhaustive list of everything we do here but it’s a summary of what each month can bring.

Some of the most sustainable things we’ve achieved this year haven’t been big ticket items like solar or new winery insulation, rather it has been small incremental changes that have made a huge difference. They aren’t especially glamourous or exciting, however over the working week at S&K these collective changes are having a great impact. 

Here’s our update across the six different focus areas of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia: Land & Soil, Water, People & Business, Biodiversity, Energy and Waste. You’ll notice there is a lot of overlap with these areas – a positive change in one area often links it with another.

If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting our beautiful region, you'll know that Rutherglen is the Muscat capital of the world. We don't like to brag (okay, fine, we do), but our Muscat is the world's best and most awarded.

Muscat of Rutherglen offers a depth of flavour, texture and complexity like no other wine style. It provides a highly sophisticated and diverse drinking experience that reflects the rural surroundings of the region and our unique site, where it has been grown, produced and bottled by hand.

There is no denying that Muscat of Rutherglen is an Australian treasure. An impossible wine to replicate due to the essence and artistry of multiple generations. At Stanton & Killeen, our Muscat has been lovingly handcrafted and nurtured by seven generations of winemakers and vignerons. The result is an intense, rich and sensuous style that can stand heroically on its own, over ice as an aperitif or mixed in cocktails. You can also enjoy Muscat alongside various savoury dishes, full-flavoured cheeses and desserts.

So, you might ask, what makes Rutherglen so exceptional for growing and producing Muscat? Well, It comes down to many factors. Let's explore a few.

Get ready to raise your glasses and join in the jubilation, for a momentous milestone is upon us. It's time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Rutherglen's legendary wine festival, Winery Walkabout, the one weekend of the year when wine enthusiasts and costumed party animals rub elbows in the tasting rooms of Rutherglen's finest wineries. 

But before we take a sip of the present, let's pour ourselves a generous glass of nostalgia and journey back through the captivating (and slightly intoxicated) history of Australia's beloved wine festival.

In December 2022, we successfully passed a rigorous audit for both the vineyard and winery, becoming officially certified through Sustainable Winegrowing Australia.

Embracing sustainable principles such as improving biodiversity, reducing our carbon footprint, renewable energy generation, water saving practices and choosing organic chemicals over synthetic ensures that the land is nurtured and passed on in a better condition, and our wine quality is the best it’s ever been.

Vintage Fortified (previously Vintage Port) is an exceptional wine ideal for collectors and wine enthusiasts who appreciate the complexity and depth of flavour that can come with aging. While it's an absolute delight to drink it can be a little tricky when it comes to storing, caring for and knowing when to drink it and how to decant it properly. Luckily, we're here to help to ensure you get the best out of your bottle of Vintage Fortified. 

The number of women in top positions in the wine world is growing all the time, and perhaps nowhere more so than in Victoria, Australia, finds Geoffrey Dean. Recently our very own, Wendy Killeen, was interviewed for an article in Drinks Business Magazine that spotlighted women within the Victorian wine industry.

We are extremely proud to be featured in the 2022 Impact Report from Sustainable Winegrowing Australia on page 22. We started our journey with SWA in 2019 and became officially certified in December 2022.