Gary Walsh was a bit harsh with his 89 point review. Not going to stop me from buying it.
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2021
Posted on 18 October 2024.
A blend of grapes from many places around the Barossa - Eden Valley, Marananga, Ebenezer etc. - kind of like a Barolo classico in that way. Regardless, aside the acclimation, I reckon the straight Shiraz is often not the best wine in the Rockford portfolio of reds, at least these days. It's a wine that feels different to the others in the way it's vinified.
Black fruit, iodine, pencil shavings, beef pan juices, liquorice and spice. It's medium to full-bodied, dark and quite saline, plenty of chewy tannin, a blood orange tang to acidity, toasted nuts, with a ferrous edge on a finish of decent length. There's something of a desiccated character to this wine, though it does have impact, albeit not a great deal of charm. The acidity feels a bit unsettled to me, a lemony zing to close, and maybe that's OK for others, just noted all the same. Not a soft Rockford style, more angular and hard.
