1996 Rockford Shiraz Basket Press

Community Tasting Notes (34) Avg Score: 92.1 points

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  12/23/2022 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Bob’s cellar. A previous experience with this vintage was disappointing so hoping for better things with this one. Decent ruby red colour, almost no bricking at all. Warm swirls of red cherries, redcurrants and black pepper nose, hints of brambles and damsons in the background. Has a wonderful life and youth for its age. Tasting shows flavours of redcurrants and structured fruit, appears taut and very good. This has structure, plenty of red acidity. A great Basket Press and bizarrely displays almost no age - really fascinating.

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  10/1/2022 - Leconte Likes this wine: 97 Points

  Well this bottle of 96 Basket Press has been the best one I have had to date. This wine (I had about 2 1/2 dozen now down to about 15) has often disappointed me me by being so HUGE as to be overpowering. This time, after taking it out of my offsite cellar a few weeks ago and leaving it upright since, it has opened about as perfect as I could ever expect. The colour deep, deep ruby without any brown but clearly not a young wine, nose still intoxiating but in the glass it is divine. It still has sweetness, intense flavours, defintely not cigar-box but abundant unmistakeable Barossa shiraz. The alcohol has finally settled down so it is not dominating and allows the combination of fruit acidity and sweetness to be paramount. Oh that every bottle from my cellar would be as fine! I recently had a friend share a 2002 with me that was nowhere near this one, sadly. I did give him a bottle of this from the same box and await with anticipation how he found it. It doesn't get better than this, in my experience. This was opened to celebtrate news of becoming a first time grandfather, but my palate swears that it has not been influenced by good news and I have gone back and back to the bottle (decanter) to confirm my notes!

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  7/11/2022 - KVM wrote:

  very dark. nose is pepper and mint. Medium+ body, peppery, oak is only slight, so long and delicious. this mature beauty was a revelation for me.

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  6/9/2022 - Bonesetter Likes this wine: 88 Points

  This bottle probably beyond its best. Still enjoyable, but would have been so much better 8 years ago.

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  1/20/2022 - Cremuel Does not like this wine: 70 Points

  Still bright and fresh looking. Some hints of fading at the edges. Nose is sweet jamminess, stewed fruits and cracked pepper. Quite fresh. Tasting is a different experience. Dry, austere and flat. Rigid and unyielding, no fruit left. Will leave for a day or two and see what happens.
  No better - this is past it so poured it down the sink.

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View all 34 Community Tasting Notes

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