Ross Bathgate

9.3

Opened after Xmas lunch as we needed a follow up to the Black Shiraz. Did not disappoint. Mature and soft with all the lovely spice and dark fruit of the basket pressed. Lovely. — 6 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

I donated my 3 bottles to a Rare and Collectible Shiraz Dinner at the Downs Club to go with a 2018 Wendouree Shiraz, 2022 Standish Lamella, 2020 Rockford Basket Press and a 2021 Langmeil Freedom. The Sami Odi Little Wine finished middle of the field in this stellar lineup. It was an unvintaged assemblage of 8 different vintages starting with 2022 (49%) through to 2015 (2%). Lush and medium bodied with fluid tannins and great length. Brambley. Fraser likes to drink Little Wine when young and fresh like this is now. Purchased 2 years ago in mid 2023. The consensus winner of the 5 wines was probably the Rockford or the Standish Lamella. Erin Larkin gave the latter 100 points. All 5 Shiraz were outstanding. — a year ago

Ron from VA

8.9

Nice mouthfeel and richness- pair with potato & Rockford blue soup. — 5 years ago

Sam Richey

9.0

First fancy night out in Rockford with Kate — 7 years ago

Robert Mackie

9.9

Another absolutely delicious drop — 7 years ago

Lam S

9.2

Blackberries and venila aroma. Medium body with considerable smooth tannin and bit of acidity. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.3

On the nose, boysenberries, olallieberries, blueberries, blackberries, baking spices, dry powdery soils, dry stems, bramble and bright, fresh, fragrant purple florals. The palate is warm, lush, round and elegant. Tannins 65% resolved. It's still fairly big and very fresh. Palate fruits are; boysenberries, olallieberries, blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries and raspberries haunting the background. Lifting warm spices, black pepper, black licorice, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, dry crushed rocks, volcanic minerals with liqueur notes settling in at the mid point to the long finish. Dry stones, dry straw, tarry notes, violets, purple florals and palate raining acidity. The finish is long with good balance of fruit & earth. There's still nice tension, length and structure. The 05 still has another 7-10 years of good drinking ahead. As great as it was to be at the property tasting their new releases, it's a pleasure to enjoy one of their well aged wines back in the states. Photos of; the view from the new estate (love that red Barossa soil), tasting bar, Andrew Tierney, Torbreck International Sales Ambassador who hosted our visit(left) and Owner, David Powell (right). Producer history and notes...Torbreck Vintners was founded by David Powell in 1994. Before founding Torbreck, he worked for Robert O'Callaghan at Rockford Wines in the Barossa Valley. Rockford is an historic old winery and they love old historic wine relics...all you have to do is walk the property. In trying to start his own label, David lacked the funds to buy grapes outright. So, David began to share-farm a vineyard, a practice which involves working without pay until the grapes are sold, at which time the owner is paid a percentage of the market rate for his grapes and the share-farmer keeps the grapes for their own use. The share-farming principle or as we call it, sweat equity. This enabled Torbreck to obtain fruit from the very best vineyards in the Barossa Valley, while giving David Powell experience working in the vineyard and winery. In 1995 Powell crushed and fermented his grapes in a shed on his 12-hectare Marananga property; which continues to be home to the winery. The winery was named "Torbreck" after the forest in Scotland where Powell worked as a lumberjack. The first wine made under the Torbreck label was the 1995 RunRig. When it was released in 1997, Parker gave it a score of 95; which went a long way in launching Torbreck Vintners. Lisa, now Managing Editor at Robertparker.com raised that score to 98 in 2010. In late 2002, Torbreck was placed into receivership due to financial pressures on Powell from a divorce settlement. Torbreck was purchased by Australian businessman Jack Cowin for 6.5 million Australian dollars with Powell retained as winemaker and managing director. In 2008 Powell reacquired the estate in partnership with Peter Kight, the owner of Quivira Winery in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley in California. Torbreck produces around 70,000 cases of wine per year, depending on vintage conditions. 6.5 million Australian dollars is not a lot of money in today's environment...actually quite a deal. They had just completed their new facilities as shown in the photos two weeks prior to our visit in April. If you haven't had their wines, their lower price wines are very good at great values. Torbreck makes everything up to their high end RunRig at $300 plus a bottle with lots of quality wines in between that are really quite good and value priced vs. the rest of international market. — 9 years ago

Ross Bathgate

9.6

2021 disgorgement. Extraordinary. So vibrant and complex. Perfect for our Xmas lunch with ham and turkey. — 6 months ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.1

Actually Mataro Grenache Shiraz
Winemaker and owner Travis O'Callaghan, son of Robert which is the history of Rockford.
The wine has blue fruit and a deep character
A mineral vein and a velvety profile
It has a long aftertaste

This winery put a lot of emphasis on the mataro
The fruits are sourced from vineyards looked after by the Hofmann family and the vines are a mix of youngish and older plants
A journey to watch out for — 10 months ago

Ira Schwartz

9.1

Stopped off at a lifelong friends apartment. He likes wine but it does not go beyond that. Says to me after pulling several bottles ( including 2 Rockford BP) from the corner of a very warm room, “What should I do with these wines?” Trying to remain calm, I said , “I think you need to open one.”
Surprisingly, the cork was intact, but totally soaked to the top. What we encountered was a red/purple wine that looked like it was bottled a few years ago. The nose was big and full of dark fruit along with some oak but zero alcohol Taking a small taste I was absolutely taken back by the juiciness & deep plummy flavors swirling around my mouth. I noted very little secondary flavors but the level of acidity shocked me. Tannins were soft and the fish was modest. — 2 years ago

George Hesse

9.3

This was crispy and fresh with a fairly acidic finish. — 7 years ago

with Jeff and Jennifer

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.4

Old vines, basket pressed.
Wow, this is a big wine, but the elegance and the balance are impressive
Huge intensity on the nose
Tasting it you can hardly feel it’s 15,5%
The flavour is immense
Fruit yes, but the focus is on liquorice and aniseed
Super fresh and quite tannic to be an Oz Shiraz . Never ending finish
Tasted just after a Basket Press 2001 Rockford I’d say this has more to say in the future when Rockford was more enjoyable now. Two great Oz wines anyway. At least another 10 years to go...I’d be curious — 8 years ago

with Mauro

Aaron Tan

9.0

Ogier's Cote Rotie seems to come to mind when I tasted this. Riper of course, but still showing elegance. Bright with just the right amount of oak, silky tannins. Impressive Barossa shiraz - will need to try a bottle to confirm.

Note: Gary Walsh awarded this 95 points suggesting that this release reminded him, “of how Rockford Basket Press used to taste.” — 9 years ago

Jared Dmello

10

Excellent served chilled — 6 months ago

Ross Bathgate

9.4

Drunk after Rockford Black Shiraz for Xmas lunch. Totally different to the Rockford but held up with its fine structure and length. Perfect follow up with Xmas lunch. — 6 months ago

Marcus Chacos

9.0

A Shiraz fortified wine (in essence, a Shiraz port). It's absolutely delicious 😋. Wow. Just wow!! — a year ago

James

10

Perfect drop with a Aussie meat pie! — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Sparkling Shiraz is a tradition in Australia on Christmas Day. Bought this at Dukes Cellar Door 2 days ago. Very different to Barossa Sparkling like Rockford Black which, while good is much sweeter. This was savoury earthy and minerally - quite dark in colour. A great accompaniment to Turkey and Ham. — 7 years ago

Henry Grunzweig

9.3

Delicious. Fruity, powerful, tannin-y — 8 years ago

K S

9.5

Grand Opening Wine Tasting w/Lark @ Molly's Rockford Dec 6, 2017....
Better than any other Barefoot! — 9 years ago