Langton’s Selections Campbells Merchant Prince Rare Muscat, Campbells Isabella Rare Tokay, Campbells Bobbie Burns Shiraz, Campbells The Barkly Durif Campbells of Rutherglen is a traditional winery that has built a reputation largely on fortified wines although it has always made a range of dry table wines. The winery was established by John Campbell who in 1857 came to Australia from St Andrew’s in Scotland on the ‘Merchant Prince’. By 1860 he was digging for gold on the famous Bobby Burns ‘lead’ eventually acquiring adjacent vineyard land in 1869. The original homestead built in 1885 still stands. Phylloxera arrived in 1898.The vineyards and winery fell into decline during the 1930s, but gradually gained strength during the 1950s and 1960s with several major purchases of vineyards, including over 340 acres of prime Rutherglen land. The advent of irrigation and cool temperature winemaking revolutionised wine production during the 1970s, particularly white wine. Roseworthy trained Colin and Brother Malcolm Campbell have managed a gentle expansion over the last 30 years, with constant innovation in the vineyards including re-trellising and drip irrigation conversion. The top, dry red wine is the Bobbie Burns Shiraz – a well concentrated wine with deep set plum/dark chocolate/berry fruit and granular tannins. First made in 1970, it is one of the most enduring lines of fine wine from this region. The wine ages well, but prices are ridiculously low considering the overall class of the wine. Campbells hit the big time, from a fine wine perspective, with critical praise by Robert Parker Jr. for the sublime and utterly seductive Merchant Price Rare Muscat and Isabella Rare Tokay both highly individual house styles with incredible concentration and flavour. The Campbell family are inextricably linked to the Rutherglen Landscape. Their classification – Rutherglen, Classic, Grand and Rare Muscats and Tokays – is now universally accepted as a way of identifying the character and quality of this genre. Many other wineries have followed with these levels of perceived quality. Indeed the Campbell Soleras are regarded as one of the very best of its kind in Australia. Campbells has produced a myriad of wines over the years covering all types of markets. The seductively intense and quirky Barkly Durif is one of the very best of its ilk. Campbell’s sits on the periphery of the wine market never achieving star status, yet the wines have had a presence for decades. The Rare Muscat and Tokays will always be seen as something special or as curios, but these are not really mainstream market wines. Without vintage date, the wines are unable to secure the track record needed for Langton’s Classification. However in the world of fortified wines the Merchant Prince Rare Muscat and Isabella Rare Tokay are world class first growth type wines of unique and enduring Australian character. Andrew Caillard MW, Langton's