Top Wines
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Red
Rockford Shiraz Basket Press
58,926 bottles
CT92.4 average score
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Red
Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon Rifle Range
22,950 bottles
CT91.9 average score
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Red - Sparkling
Rockford Black Shiraz
12,014 bottles
CT93.3 average score
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Top Tasters
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1. A_Steady
105 Tasting Notes
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2. CamWheeler
95 Tasting Notes
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3. TnT2
54 Tasting Notes
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'Callaghan
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Group wines by:
| wine type | Name, Type, Locale | Year |
|---|---|---|
| White - Sparkling |
Rockford Pinot Meunier Sparkling(View Label Image)White - Sparkling, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red - Sparkling |
Rockford Black Shiraz(View Label Image)Red - Sparkling, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red - Sparkling |
Rockford Black Shiraz Tiraged 1995 Disgorged 2016(View Label Image)Red - Sparkling, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Rosé |
Rockford Alicante Bouchet Rosé(View Label Image)Rosé, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| White |
RockfordWhite, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| White |
Rockford Riesling(View Label Image)White, Australia, South Australia |
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| White |
Rockford Riesling Barossa(View Label Image)White, Australia, South Australia, Barossa |
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| White |
Rockford Riesling Hand Picked Eden Valley(View Label Image)White, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley |
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| White |
Rockford Riesling Vine Vale Barossa Valley(View Label Image)White, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| White |
Rockford Sémillon Local Growers(View Label Image)White, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| White |
Rockford White Frontignac(View Label Image)White, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
RockfordRed, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon Home Block(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon Rifle Range(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon Rifle Range (Rare Chance Release)(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon ShirazRed, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Frugal Farmer(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Grenache Dry Country(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Moppa Springs(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Pinot NoirRed, New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago |
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| Red |
Rockford Pinot Noir RDRed, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Rod & Spur(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz Basket Press(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz Basket Press (The Rare Chance Release)(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz Basket Press (Winemaker's Stock Release)(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz Dry Red Pressings(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz SVS Flaxman Valley(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz SVS Helbig(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz SVS Hoffmann(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz SVS Moorooroo(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz SVS Pressings(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red |
Rockford Shiraz/Cabernet(View Label Image)Red, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
|
| White - Sweet/Dessert |
Rockford Riesling Botrytis CinereaWhite - Sweet/Dessert, Australia, South Australia, Barossa |
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| White - Sweet/Dessert |
Rockford Sémillon Botrytis Cinerea(View Label Image)White - Sweet/Dessert, Australia, South Australia, Barossa |
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| White - Sweet/Dessert |
Rockford Sémillon Cane Cut(View Label Image)White - Sweet/Dessert, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| White - Sweet/Dessert |
Rockford Sémillon Cordon Cut(View Label Image)White - Sweet/Dessert, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| White - Sweet/Dessert |
Rockford Sémillon PW Mayflower Cane Cut(View Label Image)White - Sweet/Dessert, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red - Fortified |
Rockford PS Marion Tawny(View Label Image)Red - Fortified, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |
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| Red - Fortified |
Rockford Shiraz VP(View Label Image)Red - Fortified, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley |