2002 Rockford Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:21 pm
2002 Rockford Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon - 14%
Bright cherry purple.
When opened the nose displays very tight ripe, small red and small black berries with noticeable dry, pencil shaving oak and cherry. Darker fruits and some fruitcake spice open up after 30 minutes.
The palate replays the nose in flavour. Upon opening, the front palate is very closed but this allows the drinker to focus on the impeccable structure of this wine. The tannins are very fine, nearly unnoticeable as they are so fully submerged in the wine. The acid is totally awesome. Never has a wine’s acid so contributed to carrying flavour. The presence of the wine’s acid takes the clichéd term “mouth-watering†to a quality never experienced in a red wine previously, so integrated yet so present and long. After 30 minutes, like the nose, more ripeness on the front palate is revealed and the acid falls back in the wine. This fruit is dark and deep, blackberry and some blueberry. A sweet minerality is present, a combination of excellent oak handling and living fruit. A tarriness is also revealed. I am looking for some Cabernet green bean or tomato bush but can’t find any, nor is there prune. There is however a coolness, more specifically a noticeable restraint to the ripe flavours. The wine is still very tight. A Barossa lover will be able to identify this wine as Cabernet, but this is a long way from Bordeaux. The wine's texture is sensational as the acid, tannin and fruit depth interplay. A cushion-like quality to the tannin is now opening up, something I remember so vividly from my tasting of this wine before it was bottled. This wine is smooth, deep, long, clean, with nothing overripe and oak totally balanced by fruit. Sweet fruited yet dry. This is a truly harmonious warm climate wine. Rated Excellent/Outstanding 90 minutes after opening, I have no doubt that it will get better with air and time in the bottle. This wine will be a pleasure to drink over the next 15 years.
Kind regards,
Adair
Bright cherry purple.
When opened the nose displays very tight ripe, small red and small black berries with noticeable dry, pencil shaving oak and cherry. Darker fruits and some fruitcake spice open up after 30 minutes.
The palate replays the nose in flavour. Upon opening, the front palate is very closed but this allows the drinker to focus on the impeccable structure of this wine. The tannins are very fine, nearly unnoticeable as they are so fully submerged in the wine. The acid is totally awesome. Never has a wine’s acid so contributed to carrying flavour. The presence of the wine’s acid takes the clichéd term “mouth-watering†to a quality never experienced in a red wine previously, so integrated yet so present and long. After 30 minutes, like the nose, more ripeness on the front palate is revealed and the acid falls back in the wine. This fruit is dark and deep, blackberry and some blueberry. A sweet minerality is present, a combination of excellent oak handling and living fruit. A tarriness is also revealed. I am looking for some Cabernet green bean or tomato bush but can’t find any, nor is there prune. There is however a coolness, more specifically a noticeable restraint to the ripe flavours. The wine is still very tight. A Barossa lover will be able to identify this wine as Cabernet, but this is a long way from Bordeaux. The wine's texture is sensational as the acid, tannin and fruit depth interplay. A cushion-like quality to the tannin is now opening up, something I remember so vividly from my tasting of this wine before it was bottled. This wine is smooth, deep, long, clean, with nothing overripe and oak totally balanced by fruit. Sweet fruited yet dry. This is a truly harmonious warm climate wine. Rated Excellent/Outstanding 90 minutes after opening, I have no doubt that it will get better with air and time in the bottle. This wine will be a pleasure to drink over the next 15 years.
Kind regards,
Adair
