Is Rockford Basket Press Worth the Fuss?

[JamieBahrain]

..... just disappointed, as they were all expecting much more. Still a good wine, and priced at release more than fairly. (I wasn't disappointed, as it was exactly as I expected, and that is my score. Why anyone would pay $600 for a magnum of this is totally beyond me. It is a $50 wine/$100 magnum every day of the week)

Worthy of another thread!

The 96 for me is a little better than 92pts.

Release was $22? I was buying Mt Edelsone 96 my favorite Barossa wine for $45 ex cellar door back then. So double the price. Now Mt Ed is 4 x the price of current release BP though fascinatingly, the secondary market prices for the 96 BP seem to be ahead of the Mt Ed 96.

To truly get Basket Press, you need to get the style which is an old fashioned, soft Barossa wine whereas expectations are often way in excess of the style.It also helps to get good old South Aussie parochialism - a positive here.

[JamieBahrain]

4 selectable options on the poll.

[Cactus]

Im new to this not yet a stonewaller. My colleague who has been collecting verticals for 20 years is starting to say it doesnt cellar well. Thinks the Rifle Range is more a long termer. He is starting to think you drink them young.

[George Krashos]

I never get fussed about it. I just buy it.

-- George Krashos

[phillisc]

I never get fussed about it. I just buy it.

-- George Krashos

+1 George
Good VFM, has a sense of place, can drink at 5 years or 25...no bullshit or pretentiousness, always looked after at CD.
Cheers
Craig
PS. only voted on two options, there were the only two for me that applied.

[felixp21]

perfect summary, Craig.

[Redwine&Rum]

Great wine. Made in a really good way. Not over commercialised and price increases have been very sensible over the past 20-30 years compared to some other well known wines. It's about $60 a bottle. Can do a lot worse, for a lot more $$.

[JamieBahrain]

C'mon where are the flippers ?

The South Australian parochialism is worth consideration. My wife is from Adelaide and won't let me drop off the list. Very stormy argument when she checked cellar tracker and noted I hadn't being buying the sparkling shiraz every year. Basket Press is an icon and many Adelaide people seem very attached to it. There seems to be a local exclusiveness to the wine and Robert has certainly promoted this over the years. The amazing, early SVS winers required a visit to the cellar door.

Over the last few years, this feeling has caught on elsewhere. Newbies to the fine wine world get very excited with BP.

[Luke W]

Rockford BP night at GPK's still one if the great nights of my life. BP suits my palate and the 96's, 98's, 02's are just stunning wines IMHO. The 2012 BP is almost a perfect wine and I suspect will be highly sought for many years. The RR series are wonderful as well in good years - the 2010 and 2012 RR's are particularly stunning wines.

[shauno]

It's a good $50 wine, but at the secondary market prices there's plenty of better options... if I had a cellar full of it, I'd seriously consider flipping it!

[Ian S]

I've never tasted it.
When I was more focused on Aussie wines I rarely saw it, or if I did it was a little inflated in price due to it having a bit of a cult following.
Over time I've recognised that South Australian Shiraz from the classic regions is almost always 'not my thing', or rather other wines excite far more. I can't see that changing, but if it was there at a walkround tasting, I wouldn't avoid it.

[tarija]

Nowadays, good quality in wines anywhere is almost a given. Look at the wine critics - high scores are everywhere.

A lot of the time now it's a case of whether a winemaker's story, philosophy or terroir has resonance with collectors. I suspect Rockford has this with many.

[Mike Hawkins]

I think some, and I repeat, some, people who diss BP do it on the basis of a poor experience from a poor vintage. Plenty of notes on this forum refer to those who were underwhelmed by 00, 01 (me!), 03, 07,09,11 etc. the fact is, most wineries made ordinary wines in the Barossa in those years. Unlike Luke, the only good vintage where they missed for my palate was 2002. I found it a tad porty, as I did the Mt Ed which won a ton of awards... so maybe it's me.

For my tastes it's a 15-30 year proposition in good years, and at that age, it kills most of the similarly priced Shiraz in Oz.

[Ozzie W]

I've only tasted less than a handfull of aged BPs. To me they've all been great examples of aged Barossa Shiraz which have not been overdone. I joined the mailing list 4 years ago and purchased quite a bit with the intention of eventually becoming a Stonewaller. I have since relinquished my position in the queue as my interest in Shriaz in general waned. My only bottle of BP in the cellar is a 2011 which I assume they offered non-Stonewallers due to lack of interest from that vintage.

[felixp21]

Jamie, an interesting option about it's place in the VFM shiraz stakes.

I am certainly a fan of Rockford and what it stands for, but for my palate, Amon Ra is a better option. But then again, some like Beatles, others Rolling Stones, so it is simply a matter of preference. I read above that it is now $60 a bottle, still fairly priced. I don't know what Amon Ra is these days, maybe around the same mark? Might be a bit more.
I also gotta say that the early to mid 2000's Two Hands stuff is exceptionally good. If you ever see any 2002 Deer in the Headlights or 2005 Bella's Garden shiraz floating around, buy them. Unbelievably great wines.

[phillisc]

Reckon someone likes The Stones
Cheers
Craig

[sjw_11]

I've never tasted it.
.

Ian, surely that is something we should rectify??

For mine, I buy it every year and I became a stonewaller last year. I spent time in the valley when I was about 5 and my dad worked for Wolf Blass and I still have the wine labels from 1990/91 Rockford that they kindly gave me (my parents would taste wine, and I collected the labels ). The cellar door remains unique, and for my palate the more medium-bodied, rustic style is increasingly more appealing than any souped up fully sick no holds barred alternatives.

I like a lot of their wines. Now I only buy Rifle Range, Sparkling and BP, occasionally Rod and Spur, as I only buy in Oz to cellar. If I was in Aus, I drink the Fronti, like the Riesling, and really like the Rod and Spur. The Frugal Farmer is OK (I don't hate it as some seem to) but not quite my thing, and I find of all of them the GSM is the hit and miss wine, a bit prone to go porty from the higher alcohol in the Grenache...

But I will be honest I also ticked the "I buy on tradition"... Its not at all the only reason, but I would probably continue buying some just for that unless things went really off the rail (and I see no signs at all of that). I like the support they offer to regular buyers, especially in terms of keeping the costs in control and not selling out. I want to reward that- it is incredibly rare.

I have tried many vintages at cellar door, but I am yet to open many for myself (I now have 2006-2013, but early vintages in smaller quantities). I suppose there will be some level of reckoning when I start routinely popping these (and the Rifle Range, which I also have 2008-2014 for now) more regularly in the coming years...

Oh and I would never flip unless I had absolutely no choice.

[JamieBahrain]

Amon Ra retail, seems to be more expensive than cellar door Basket Press by about $20 a bottle? I have only had Amon Ra once and found it liquered and new wave. It may have been a hot vintage, I can't recall, but it didn't rock my South Aussie shiraz boat. I have been meaning to revisit on your glowing ratings Felix.

[brodie]

I bought it from 1994 to 2005. I would say that I like it at 15+ years. A bottle of the 1994 last year was excellent. For what I paid for them as a Stonewaller makes them good value for money. I like the honest unpretentious style. I ignore the fuss mostly.

brodie

[Polymer]

Rockford BP is a very well made wine...it ages (although the corks are junk) well...and for the quality level it, the release price is more than fair.

But it is incredibly...uninteresting.....

[deejay81]

Rockford BP is a very well made wine...it ages (although the corks are junk) well...and for the quality level it, the release price is more than fair.

But it is incredibly...uninteresting.....

This

[George Krashos]

As opposed to? I'm always on the look out for "interesting" wines.

-- George Krashos

[deejay81]

As opposed to? I'm always on the look out for "interesting" wines.

-- George Krashos

Wendouree?

They're not Barossa but they also have a similar cult like status like BP, inflated costs on secondary market like BP, Pricing is fairly similar to BP too. This could be subjective to vintage, but probably age better than BP.

I'm not a big fan of the wines of Wendouree, however I find them far more "interesting".

*EDIT
Marius as well. Again, not Barossa, but similar in price to BP (cheaper), cult following etc....

[Redback]

I have bought every year since the 2007 vintage when I became a stonewaller. I do so as I enjoy the style and I believe it is well priced for what is an iconic label.

There are definitely other Barossa producers (eg Head, Spinifex, Sons of Eden) that sell at the same price point with Rockford. However given its pedigree and that it is well-priced well for members, Basket Press will continue to have its supporters.

However, should the CD price ever jump to reflect the secondary market, I wouldn't bother buying anymore. There is just too much quality wines out there.

[felixp21]

Reckon someone likes The Stones
Cheers
Craig

haha, second only to Pearl Jam as the all-time fave.

[George Krashos]

Wendouree?

They're not Barossa but they also have a similar cult like status like BP, inflated costs on secondary market like BP, Pricing is fairly similar to BP too. This could be subjective to vintage, but probably age better than BP.

I'm not a big fan of the wines of Wendouree, however I find them far more "interesting".

*EDIT
Marius as well. Again, not Barossa, but similar in price to BP (cheaper), cult following etc....

Have a fair whack of Wendouree dating back to 1998. The big offline tasting we did was pretty great. But a 1994 BP I had in the Barossa a month ago was my Aussie wine of the year (so far).

As for Marius, you can't get on the mailing list and I have plenty of shiraz producers I like in the cellar already. Good recommendation though by all accounts.

-- George Krashos

[Polymer]

As opposed to? I'm always on the look out for "interesting" wines.

-- George Krashos

Tyrrells, Mount Pleasant...and a slew of other Hunter Valley Shiraz...
Lethbridge, Wendouree, Bannockburn
Brash Higgins, Ochota Barrels, CRFT, Billy Button
Si Vitners, Adelina

There are actually a lot of younger winemakers right now in SA that aren't carrying old baggage or had their palates wrecked to the point where they think everything is underripe unless picking at 15+% potential. They are willing to experiment and push it a bit..

I am definitely not saying BP is bad..it is a very good wine..and great QPR if you buy direct.....but it feels very penfolds like to me..it is like a can of coke...very predictable..safe...

[Ian S]

Hi Sam
I'm in the position where I'd certainly give the Rockford BP a taste (ditto the sparkler), but probably not with high expectations it would be exciting to my palate. Difficult not to respect the way they've conducted themselves throughout boom & bust, and I can appreciate the loyalty is well-deserved. Wendouree (likewise I've yet to taste) appeals more, as I've always liked more structured wines that might be difficult in youth, but often blossom with age. e.g. I loved the old style Taltarni, especially the especially tight cabernet sauvignon reserve. I'm also interested in exploring the new-wave lower alcohol level wines (indeed I have a bottle of Adelina Shiraz for that very purpose, though I really wanted to try their Nebbiolo).
Regards
Ian

[JamieBahrain]

A few years ago, I parted with a number of my early SVS wines in a themed dinner to debate whether the end justified then means with Basket Press i.e: were some amazing single vineyard SVS bottling better individually or was the complete Basket Press the better results. I think the conclusion was, the style that was being set out to be achieved eclipsed some of the brilliance of the SVS wines.

Now these SVS wines were about $50 and produced some amazing shiraz though the vineyards have long been lost by Rockford as I understand- Helbig, Flaxmans, Hofffmans?

I don't think that BP is boring and like Mike ( whom I assume cellars the wine professionally ) I often think they are consumed too young. I love them aged, when soft and supple and they speak of a style from the past- the benefits too of perfect cellaring are the fruit is still fresh and youthful primary/secondary nuances mix beautifully with unfaded tertiary notes. I have had a few old BP's from the natural cellars at Rockford and they were boring and porty- tell tale under the bed like storage.

I think I'm a little harsh on BP of late because I don't buy it tax free like everything else in Hong Kong. So it's competing with a handicap to sit in my wine budget.



Some of the line-up shame to see them go ! Those 96 SVS wines were something.



Glassware was terrible. This is 1 Queens Rd Central. Top of the HSBC building.

[JamieBahrain]

And we have three flippers in the poll too.

What's the profit? About $30 a bottle?