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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.7 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 21 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Mic Mac on 2/17/2024: Nice. More 'Barossa' than 'Cabernet' but a fair few Barossa cabs are like that. Good wine. Full bottles would have more in the tank. (319 views) | | | Tasted by Sai-Son on 2/16/2024 & rated 94 points: Still has some legs. Tasting young. (271 views) | | | Tasted by DrinkerTrev on 10/22/2023 & rated 87 points: Disappointed with this wine. Too sweet with a jammy palate but a sour sharp aftertaste. Cheap red wine nose. Was expecting much better. Deep rich red colour which promised a lot. A $45 wine that lives up to its price point. I was expecting more. (486 views) | | | Tasted by A_Steady on 9/23/2023 & rated 94 points: Wow, what a great Barossa Cab Sauv. In a good place now but has lots left in the tank. (548 views) | | | Tasted by GD77 on 10/23/2022 & rated 95 points: WOTN against a random list of very good wines, served blind. Still quite primary but well integrated. Better than anticipated for sure and overall a great example of the Barossa producing cabernet. (1047 views) | | | Tasted by Tony1157 on 3/25/2022 & rated 93 points: Gosh this is good! I have it in 375ml and it is absolutely fantastic drinking right now in that format.
WIll hold for quite a while yet, and the 750ml must be just about in the window too.
If you have some of this, try it!
If you don't ... (1022 views) | | | Tasted by Gdubya on 9/29/2021 & rated 92 points: Barossa first and foremost. Silky tannin, dark fruit. Nice and still young. 91-92+ (1763 views) | | | Tasted by Avid Wino on 6/28/2021 & rated 91 points: Plush black fruits, liquorice, sage. Soft powdery tannin and ample length. Medium bodied. Pushing 92. (1588 views) | | | Tasted by GregK59 on 11/3/2020 & rated 92 points: Excellent bottle drinking beautifully. (1885 views) | | | Tasted by Johno's Cellar on 10/26/2019 & rated 91 points: Lovely cab drinking very well (2472 views) | | | Tasted by chatters on 5/18/2017: Grand Cru Cabernet (pyrmont wharf, sydney): biscuit, blackcurrant, meaty and savoury with slight tobacco leaf on the nose. Juicy and fruit initially with a touch of sourness then joined by fine textured and slightly drying (especially front of mouth) tannic grip. Fruit persist long and is joined by chocolate notes. It's nice enough but not for me. (4293 views) | | | Tasted by jmcmchi on 4/29/2017 & rated 91 points: Bramble, smoked meat and graphite on nose
Medium body. Smooth textured dry tannins, dark fruit long to finish (2939 views) | | | Tasted by sc03852 on 4/13/2017: 4 - Heady perfume! Musk, amber, eucalyptus, violets, cedar, honey Medium+ body, medium+ acidity, medium finish. Should be enjoyed over a night or ever a couple days. (2752 views) |
| Rockford Producer Website
Winery Note:
I was born into a family of grape growers and grew up in vineyards and wineries, where I inherited a great respect for the pioneer Australian wine trade. All that I’ve experienced is reflected in the Rockford winemaking principles; Quality winemaking is a skilled craft that consumes a very large part of one’s life, so it must give you joy. That joy is extended if the maker can sell the wine directly to those who drink it for their pleasure.
My grandparents on both sides and also my parents were grape growers, so my childhood was spent in their vineyards. My parents moved to North Eastern Victoria where my Father managed a vineyard for Australia’s then largest family winemakers, Seppelts. In 1965 I followed a natural path and started as a trainee winemaker at Seppelt’s Rutherglen winery.
It was a wonderful apprenticeship in the old, ordered, slow and gentle Australian wine trade. The wines I drank, the winemakers from previous generations with whom I associated and everything I absorbed in that period had a major influence on the way Rockford is today. Although I’ve spent all my life in vineyards and wineries, the pleasure I derive from walking through rows of vines or casks filled with wine has not diminished.
In 1971 I purchased an 1850’s stone settler’s cottage and outbuildings on five acres of land in the village of Krondorf, which sits in the shadow of the Barossa Ranges, in the heart of the Barossa Valley. The courtyard shaped winery which grew from this was built in the same style and from the same materials as the original buildings.
The vintage shed is equipped with plant from the pioneer era – I collected these valuable pieces when they were discarded by other Australian wineries as they modernised. This allows Rockford to carry on the traditional Australian winemaking techniques, but more importantly the winery is the same scale, age and pace as our growers’ vineyards.
To me the winery is not just a building but a large piece of sculpture with Barossa wine running through its veins, hopefully when you walk into the courtyard you’ll instantly feel a sense of all that it represents.
Wine is crafted, not created. The skill is to capture and enhance the fleeting flavours that grapes give from their variety and extract from the earth, then bottle these as a living record of the vintage they represent.
Rockford wines are made from established Barossa varieties which form an important part of our winemaking heritage, in a style that best reflects the vineyards, the winemaker’s attitude and the climate in which we live.
I have always lived in and feel most comfortable with the warm Mediterranean climate of the Barossa where grapes ripen easily. My preference is to make the wine by hand with traditional methods, attitudes and equipment to produce elegant but rich, earthy, soft, generous wines that will age - the kind that I drank in my youth.
- Robert O'CallaghanRockford Cabernet Sauvignon Rifle RangeMost people would be unaware that Cabernet Sauvignon has been planted in the Barossa since at least 1888. Barossa Cabernets are rich, full flavoured wines and are a perfect fit into the Rockford stable.
The fruit for this wine comes predominantly from vineyards along Rifle Range Road. The ‘Biscay’ soil of these vineyards is heavy clay, lending the wine its full flavour and earthy tones. The perfect wine to hide in your cellar, for as long as you are able.
For more than thirty years Keith Hoffmann grew grapes in this area. His Cabernet always came to Rockford When he sold his vineyard to Alan and Louise Hickinbotham, we were delighted they agreed to continue to provide us with these grapes.
We are committed to making Rifle Range Cabernet and we're always looking for ways to further secure its future. So, on the rare occasion when a Cabernet vineyard comes up for sale around Krondorf we make every effort to purchase it. Recently we were able to buy a small block of land
at the back of Rockford which, being at the Rifle Range Road end, is perfect for growing Cabernet. These small wins are important in enabling us to maintain that commitment.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonAustralia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)South Australia South Australian Wine Industry Association | South Australian Wines (Wikipedia)Barossa Barossa Wine (South Australian Tourism Commission)Barossa Valley Barossa Valley |
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