Thoughts on Rockford SVS wines

[limkeith]

Hey all, going to Rockfords soon and heard that they still have the SVS wines for sale. What are your experiences with it and is it worth the money?

Thanks
Keith

[rens]

I've only had the SVS Hoffman (twice). They are big bold and brach, some would say in the parker mold. Super concentrated with ripe fruit. I really like them, but they may not be everyones cup of tea. I think they are only available to stonewallers. Not being one (a stone waller) my self, perhaps someone who is caould confirm that. It's probably on tasting for stonwallers.

[phillisc]

Hi Keith and Rens,
when I bumped into Rocky on the way out with a 6 pack of 2004 SVS ( 3 of each of the 2004 releases) he was bemused. He said what about the BP ( have since purchased)?
He feels that these wines completely polarise his customer base, either they are loved or "loathed", single vineyard wines with out the skills of Ben Radfords blending. But thats what I love about them, the purity of expression, the absolute power and should all go the distance.

Yes they are only available at CD and are rather good value ( i think), compared to the overblown prices charged by some of the really big makers for Barossa shiraz, that is clearly inferior.
The pseudo cellar door for SVS's is langtons, oddbins or who ever.
A significant proportion of these wines get flicked IMHO to the second hand market straight away.
I am slowly making my way back down the years, have 04, 03, 02...98 ( bar the Hoffmann $400+ on langtons exchange!!) 97 and 96. Will fill in the gaps for the vertical of all verticals.
05 and 06 to be released and get the feeling that will be it.
Cheers Craig.

[ticklenow1]

Hi Keith and Rens,
when I bumped into Rocky on the way out with a 6 pack of 2004 SVS ( 3 of each of the 2004 releases) he was bemused. He said what about the BP ( have since purchased)?
He feels that these wines completely polarise his customer base, either they are loved or "loathed", single vineyard wines with out the skills of Ben Radfords blending. But thats what I love about them, the purity of expression, the absolute power and should all go the distance.

Yes they are only available at CD and are rather good value ( i think), compared to the overblown prices charged by some of the really big makers for Barossa shiraz, that is clearly inferior.
The pseudo cellar door for SVS's is langtons, oddbins or who ever.
A significant proportion of these wines get flicked IMHO to the second hand market straight away.
I am slowly making my way back down the years, have 04, 03, 02...98 ( bar the Hoffmann $400+ on langtons exchange!!) 97 and 96. Will fill in the gaps for the vertical of all verticals.
05 and 06 to be released and get the feeling that will be it.
Cheers Craig.

I can see why they would polarise. The Hoffman and Flaxman from '04 where very different wines. Rens is right in saying the Hoffman is a big bold wine. It would be the "biggest" Rockford wine I've tasted. A real RPJ special. An exceptional wine though. The Flaxman is a more refined wine and my pick of the two. I also think it will age much better but I'm happy to wait 15 years and see! The '03 was a bit porty for my taste but I did rate the '01's quite highly at the time of tasting. I missed out on the '02's and was bitterly disappointed. Sadly, those are the only ones I've tried.

While they are available, they are normally on tasting in the Stonewallers Room. Yes Rens, you are correct, they are only available to Stonewallers and you actually have to visit the cellar door to purchase. That kind of sucks for out of staters, but that is just the way it is. I'm really hoping the '05 is available when I go down in May for the Golf Day.

I'll stand corrected, but wasn't Chris Ringland still at Rockfords in '04? I was under the impression that Ben Radford arrived for either the '06 or '07 vintage.

The secondary market prices prohibit me from buying back vintages sadly. The exceptional vintages do attract some crazy prices, much like Noon Shiraz does. I guess the very limited availability of these wines are what forces the prices up. I was also under the impression that '06 was the last time the SVS wines were made.

If you can get your hands on some Keith, buy as much as you can. You won't be disappointed!

Cheers
Ian

[LawrenceM]

Will post full notes on last nights Sydney offline, but had the 04 Flax last night. I'd put it in the top 10 Sussie shiraz's that I've had.

[George Krashos]

The 98 Hoffmann is priced exorbitantly because it was never released in Aussie. The entire allocation went to their Swiss retailer, who was actually something of a catalyst for the SVS range to begin with. Whoever has got it up on Langtons went to some lengths to get some. That Swiss retailer doesn't ship internationally.

-- George Krashos

[rens]

That is how I got my three bottles. Gerry (GPK) was kind enough to share a bottle of the 2000 SVS Hoffman with us and I had to have a bottle (or three). After much searching, I found some in Germany of all places. They were priced about 39 Euro each for both the 2000 and the 1999. With the conversion rate compared to australian auction they were a bargain. So I had them shipped from Germany to an aunts place in the Netherlands and my parents picked them up on a European holiday a few months later.
Where there's a will there is a way.

[phillisc]

Yes there is a poster here, who has previously stated that he was given a 3 pack of 98 Hoffman by the lovely Angela at the CD, many years ago.

Other than an inflated Australian auction house price, a wine at 15 years old is probably gone forever.
I do not travel nearly enough to scour the local scene in Germany or Switzerland...pity.
I am aware the Swiss agent was a backer of the SVS's but wonder why the first two vintages did not go the same way or that a little of the 98 was kept for Stonewallers.

I am getting to the stage that of the half a dozen or so yearly must haves, I am not buying much wine any more.
However, will continue to fill the SVS gaps that I have in my cellar. $400 is probably a bridge too far though, would be very interested who here has a few?

Yes have heard from a few sources that 2006 may be the last of the run, some 2 dozen or so releases over 10 vintages.
Me thinks a vertical could be for sale in the 2015 Barossa Festival rare wine auction. Somewhere around 5-6 g I reckon.

Cheers Craig.

[limkeith]

Thanks all for the information! I managed to get 3 each of the Flaxman and Hoffman together with 3 of the Black shiraz when I was at cellar door recently.

I REALLY liked the wines. The Hoffman had such a concentration of pure fruit and power without feeling porty or alcoholic. My Dad's favourite. The Flaxman was my favourite though, as you all said, more elegant with power to boot. Very much like the Sons of Eden Remus (one of my new favourite reds by the way)

Would it be possible to buy the allocation of 3 each again if I am back up there again around end April? Or is this a one and done thing?

Once again, thanks for your comments and knowledge.

Keith