2024 All Saints Estate Family Cellar Durif, Rutherglen

Fourteen days' fermentation, 18 months' maturation, 33% new oak. Big, ripe and rich – à la trad Rutherglen durif – but with tannins that bring structure without being scary in the least. Indeed, the tannin management is to be congratulated. Expect to enjoy a wealth of blackberry, fleshy, deep plum, black cherry with violet, dark florals, chocolate, rosemary and earth. What some might call a renovated retro-style, but it works so well. Drink to 2034.

92 points Jeni Port for Halliday Wine Companion, June 2026

For many Durif is Rutherglen, as far as table wines go. A natural cross of the Peloursin and Shiraz varieties, it needs a long growing season to ripen properly and hence thrives in the warm and dry continental climate of Rutherglen. The variety is also planted in numerous old vineyards of California where it is known as Petite Sirah, a reference to its relatively small, thick-skinned grapes arranged in small, tight packed clusters. Deeply pigmented, it needs careful vinification to avoid overextraction of its naturally abundant tannins, which also help making its wines some of the long-lived reds around.

The fruit for this wine was de-stemmed and crushed into open concrete fermenters. The must was plunged three times a day and the wine gently basket pressed into predominantly seasoned oak for a three-year maturation.

Younger wines benefit from a generous time in the decanter and complement rich, sticky meats with fats and charcoal like few other wines do. Well-cellared bottles mellow, developing intriguing gamey and spicy flavours that offer a wide range of interesting food matches across cuisines from the east and west alike.

About this producer

All Saints Estate is a family-owned winery established in 1864 on the banks of the Murray River in Wahgunyah of northeastern Victoria. Siblings Eliza, Angela and Nicholas Brown have been the custodians of the original estate as well as the neighbouring St Leonards Vineyard since 2005. Their father having been one of the Brown Brothers of Milawa, they are also actively involved in the management of Brown Family Wine group, which in addition to Brown Brothers also includes the premium wine labels Pirie and Tamar Ridge, and the widely distributed Innocent Bystander and Devil’s Corner.

Their two Rutherglen properties are home to 76 hectares of vines, many of which date back to the early to late-1900s. The family has also restored the tiny historic 1891 half-hectare Mount Ophir vineyard, and is today producing a single, premium Shiraz from this site.