Rockford's 1998 Moppa Springs

[Mahmoud Ali]

In 2001, at Rockford's cellar door, I bought a couple of bottles the 1998 Moppa Springs, a Grenache (69%), Shiraz (20%), Mataro (11%) blend and managed to bring the bottles home. The back label states that "bottle aging the wine for two to three years will give it a chance to clearly show its Barossan birthright." I tend to ignore producer/winemaker timelines because they tend to be on the cautious side as they have no idea where and how a consumer might store their bottles, particularly in Australia's hot climate. However time does pass quickly and though it doesn't seem like a '98 wine is all that old, on reflection they are, at 18+ years of age, almost 20 year-old wines. Last Friday, sifting through some boxes I came across the Moppa Springs and noticed that there was consioderable ullage, the level now into the shoulder. Holding the bottle up against the light I could see the sediment in the punt sharply contrasted against the wine that was showing signs of having faded in colour.

The Moppa Springs was the second of four red dinner wines and was matched with roast chicken thighs and baked vegetables & cheese on top. Being unsure of how it would behave I decanted it shortly before drinking. The most satifying sight on pulling the cork was to see it almost fully saturated, red to the top on one side. It gives one a sense of assurance that one is opening the bottle at just the right time. The nose from the bottle was glorious, and in glass equally so. Sorry not to have notes on the wine but it was an elegant and mature, balanced and expansive, with a lovely ripe resoled tannin finish, a lovely graceful wine. It would be great if all Barossan bithright wines were like this but perhaps, if given the chance, they might. My friends guessed old world, France and Italy, and on being told it was new world went California, Chile and South Africa. They were shocked to hear that it was Australian and wanted to know the amount of alcohol as it was so well balanced and none of the heat they have come to expect of many Australian wines - it was 14%.

The Rockford Moppa Springs is a great example of the 1998 vintage, and this performnance tells me that though my Cabernet and Shirazes from 1998 and 1999 might need more time, the Grenaches and their blends might be hitting their stride.

Cheers ....................... Mahmoud.

[Michael McNally]

Nice note thanks Mahmoud

Was considering passing on Rockford this year but might go for some of these as I do like the style.

Cheers

Michael

[Redav]

Yeah, thanks for sharing. It's good to hear that it's gone the distance. My wife is a big fan so maybe I should try putting some away but we struggle to not drink it (and we don't buy much to begin with ).

I tend to ignore producer/winemaker timelines because they tend to be on the cautious side as they have no idea where and how a consumer might store their bottles, particularly in Australia's hot climate.

Recently I started reading through the Rag from the beginning (I like to try and understand where someone comes from to help better understand where they're going). What I found interesting was that while Robert only suggests the Basket Press to be kept for ten years, he only suggests a few years for the others that might develop further. In 1999 he and Chris cracked out verticals of their wines (earliest vintages varying from 1983 to 1989 depending on the wine) and while many of the earliest vintages he suggests to drink now, a few he felt could still go longer and others that he suggested give a few years to, were showing really well after a far longer rest. It was also interesting to see his thoughts on the vintage variation within those wines and through the various editions of the Rag, he draws parallels between various vintages due to similar weather conditions.

[JamieBahrain]

The Stonewaller cellar at Rockfords seems OK to warmish. Wonder where they cellared their wines prior to that?

I actually think well-cellared Rockfords have a bit more ooomph in them in the old style. Certainly 20 years is fine in exceptional vintages and I'm now holding my 96's and 98's. I'm a bit lost post-99 ( which I've sadly consumed bar a magnum ).