Rhine Castle info

[GRB]

Hi All,

A friend was given this bottle for a birthday gift and we were curious about the history of the wine and winery. They seem to have made various things from various regions through the 60's and 70's before being bought by Hardies. Anyone know anything specific about this particular wine or more about the winery itself?



Thanks

Glen

[daz]

Can't provide any info on the wine but love the label, would keep the empty just for it after likely pouring the contents down the drain.
Would be interested to know just how it opens though.

Cheers

daz

[DaveB]

Rhine castle was purchased by Hardy's in 1971 from memory ?....they did a lot of fortified and I've seen examples back to the 1930's from them. I've had a 1965 Old Dolcetto Vintage Port before...... about 5 years back that was excellent but have never tried a table wine from them..,...worth a crack!

[GRB]

Thanks Dave,

Not my bottle but I may just get to try it when it is opened. The empty is a keeper for sure. Good chance it will be knackered but you never know.

Glen

[DJ]

Rhine Castle was a merchant label - that being said this was towards the end of the period when somewhere like Tyrrell's had only recently started bottling their stuff under there own label.
An educated guess would suggest Langhorne Creek from 1969 would be a Pott's Bleasdale. Perhaps Bleasdale could give some info.
All my books are packed at the moment so I can't look up anything further but if you look up Johnie Walker in older Halliday and Len Evans you should be able to find out more as he along with HG Brown were very important in the Sydney wine scene during the 50s and 60s.

[Rudy]

All my books are packed at the moment so I can't look up anything further but if you look up Johnie Walker in older Halliday and Len Evans you should be able to find out more as he along with HG Brown were very important in the Sydney wine scene during the 50s and 60s.

A quick look through Evans' 1974 Complete Book of Wine doesn't seem to mention Rhine Castle or Johnie Walker.
Cheers Mark

[GrahamB]

We opened a 1945 Old Dolcetto port in May last year. The wax seal was still intact and the cork was soaked right up to the top. The port itself was pristine without the usual crud you find in many old ports.

A company called Walter Reids distributed Rhinecastle in Queensland. We bought many Old Dolcetto's of the available years during the late 60's and 70's.

A wine the girls drank around that time was a Bin 52 GT Frontignac or Frontignan. Can't recall the winery but it was a step up from Starwine and Cold Duck.

Graham

[GRB]

Rhine Castle was a merchant label - that being said this was towards the end of the period when somewhere like Tyrrell's had only recently started bottling their stuff under there own label.
An educated guess would suggest Langhorne Creek from 1969 would be a Pott's Bleasdale. Perhaps Bleasdale could give some info.
All my books are packed at the moment so I can't look up anything further but if you look up Johnie Walker in older Halliday and Len Evans you should be able to find out more as he along with HG Brown were very important in the Sydney wine scene during the 50s and 60s.

Thanks DJ,

Might see if I can follow it up with them.

Glen

[DJ]

All my books are packed at the moment so I can't look up anything further but if you look up Johnie Walker in older Halliday and Len Evans you should be able to find out more as he along with HG Brown were very important in the Sydney wine scene during the 50s and 60s.

A quick look through Evans' 1974 Complete Book of Wine doesn't seem to mention Rhine Castle or Johnie Walker.
Cheers Mark

Just about unpacked after a move (hopefully the last for a long time). My copy of Evan's complete book of wine is the 1984. I find it curious that Evans doesn't mention Rhine Castle - I wonder if there is some history there, they may well have been competitors at times but we would need someone a few decades older than me to know (hit 40 this year but also celebrate having had cellar of sorts for 20 years ).

I have found two references to Rhine Castle or Rhinecastle (may be a Halliday typo) in my ecletic collection:
Walter James Wine in Australia 1952

RHINE CASTLE: A Sydney firm (with a branch in Melbourne) specialising in the better-class South Australian and Hunter River wines; distributors for the Mount Pleasant vineyard.

James Halliday Setting up your own winecellar 1989

... Tulloch, the later supplied by the late Johnnie Walker and by Harry Brown of Rhinecastle wines. Walker and Brown organised occasional trips to the Hunter Valley, and I made my first pigimage as a callow university student in 1957 or 1958

Not sure where to look for other information unless it is other early Halliday or stuff like Max Lake's books, things I don't have.

[GRB]

Thanks DJ,

My friend contacted Bleasdale and spoke to one of the Potts family who is the current wine maker and he didn't think it was one of theirs so, still a mystery.

Glen