TN: Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 1994

[Phil Wilkins]

Blood red, crimson rim. Nose of spice, earth & liquorice but lacking in harmonic focus. The palate shows much alcohol (14%abv + the rest) & delivers a raspberry/blackberry compote with vanilla, ripe black fruit, some mineral with good ripe tannins, acidity, length & oak but not too in your face. Knowing these wines since the Â’88 vintage this will require more time before fully integrated. Shows some very slight bitter notes in the finish though. Not at itÂ’s best at the moment but give it another 5-10 years it may well be a winner, although perhaps not the finest BP IÂ’ve tasted to date.

Phil

[Lincoln]

Blood red, crimson rim. Nose of spice, earth & liquorice but lacking in harmonic focus. The palate shows much alcohol (14%abv + the rest) & delivers a raspberry/blackberry compote with vanilla, ripe black fruit, some mineral with good ripe tannins, acidity, length & oak but not too in your face. Knowing these wines since the ’88 vintage this will require more time before fully integrated. Shows some very slight bitter notes in the finish though. Not at it’s best at the moment but give it another 5-10 years it may well be a winner, although perhaps not the finest BP I’ve tasted to date.

Phil

Hi Phil,
I have a single bottle of this left, and was interested to see you recommend keeping it 5-10 years more. I was considering drinking mine sooner (i.e. tonight) rather than later. How has your BP been stored?
TIA, Lincoln.

[Blake]

I am (possibly) the most recent addition to the Rockford mailing list. It is all very exciting as you can imagine. However, my experience with the basket press is very limited - I have never had the pleasure. I am trying to pick up some back vintages on the secondary market while I wait to become eligible to purchase the current release off the mailing list.

That being the case, would anyone mind giving me your ranking of the vintages since 1990 ? I would very much appreciate it.

Blake.

[Mike Hawkins]

Blake,


I would rank them in this order, but no doubt others would disagree !:-

90, 91, 98 (all about equal) then, 96, 99, 01, 93, 97, 94, 92, 95, 00.

I think the 99 is the best value on the secondary market, having seen it sell for under $60 (before commission). It is an outstanding wine.

Mike

[Lincoln]

Blake,


I would rank them in this order, but no doubt others would disagree !:-

90, 91, 98 (all about equal) then, 96, 99, 01, 93, 97, 94, 92, 95, 00.

I think the 99 is the best value on the secondary market, having seen it sell for under $60 (before commission). It is an outstanding wine.

Mike

I'd probably have the 99 up a bit higher, but cannot argue with the other ratings. Actually had a 00 last night, and it was enjoyable, but hardly a "great" BP by any means.

[Ed]

Rank them since 1990? That had me thinking. I was lucky to do two mini verticals last year and I'm in close agreement with the other rankings mentioned here. Rockford BP always show best with a decade under their belt. For a bad vintage the 89 is very good showing the real class of this line even in off years.

90, 91 & 98 are all very close and obviously at different stages of development. I rank the 96 up very close to that three

99 is an under rated vintage and I have an inkling that it will be near the top bracket in another five years, a sleeper.

01 is another I think should be grabbed and put away for a sleep, it will rank highly thereafter.

I then like 94, 93, 95, 97, 92 and 00 shows the real difficulties of that vintage in the Barossa.

Good luck with your search, they are gems worth seeking out. Keep an eye on the Wickman Auctions and TORBWINE wine swap section for better prices.

Ed

[Phil Shorten]

In my humble opinion, the 99 vintage could well turn out to be one of, potentially THE greatest BP produced to date.

For mine, it has a structure of tannins, acidity and fruit that beats the likes of the 1996 and 1998 and lots of fruit, but rather than being a bruiser, has power married with elegance and refinement.

In time, I reckon this wine should be a stunner!

Cheers
Phil

[Phil Wilkins]

Hi Lincoln,

All correctly cellared (professional storage) but not bought on release – although from a reputable retailer perhaps a year later. I feel more integration is necessary when comparing it to the ’88, ’90, ’91 & ’92 vintages over the ‘94; the former vintages have just started their plateau with the ’88 well into it and on top form when I finished my last bottle some months ago. Further bottle age isn’t going to hurt although consuming it now will give you very good, but not great drinking pleasure – it just seems ever so slightly ‘clumsy’ at this stage.

Speaking about the ‘99s; any know when Rockford reverted back too the ‘50s design bottle as opposed to the traditional Bordeaux shape?

Phil

[Phil Shorten]

Hi Lincoln,

All correctly cellared (professional storage) but not bought on release – although from a reputable retailer perhaps a year later. I feel more integration is necessary when comparing it to the ’88, ’90, ’91 & ’92 vintages over the ‘94; the former vintages have just started their plateau with the ’88 well into it and on top form when I finished my last bottle some months ago. Further bottle age isn’t going to hurt although consuming it now will give you very good, but not great drinking pleasure – it just seems ever so slightly ‘clumsy’ at this stage.

Speaking about the ‘99s; any know when Rockford reverted back too the ‘50s design bottle as opposed to the traditional Bordeaux shape?

Phil

Phil

As far as I am aware, 99 was the vintage Rockford reverted to the traditional bottle for the BP Shiraz.

Regards
Phil