Afternoon all, been a bit slack seeing as I tasted this wine last week but I have been crazy busy. Anyways, I did have a sec to whip this up so let’s do this!

Rockford Basket Press is one of the iconic wines of Australia, well respected, in the top ‘Exceptional’ Langton’s classification and has a huge cult following with a price tag to match. I was fortunate enough to do a vertical tasting of Basket press with Dan Murphy’s here (scroll down).   Lets see what the 2009 has to offer…

Rockford Basket Press 2009 Shiraz

Nose of aniseed, bark, wet soil and earth, plums and rum raisins with a slight hit of vanilla in the very back. There is also quite a bit of alcohol in the nose so don’t stick your nose too deep in there. The attack on the palate has some chilly and white pepper. The mid palate is milder with some spikes of lemon rind and other citrus notes followed by red berries, some gum nuts/acorn bark in the back end with a steady stream on tingling chilly. Its like your eating strawberries followed by a grape warhead! This wine has a rounded mouthfeel with a light to med body at this stage. Finish has underlying ground white pepper, apple skin with a firm tannin structure and an overall mouth grip.

I think even with a few hours decanting, this is too young to drink now. It definitely needs to mellow out a bit. I find it well grounded but at times a little volatile. Also, I get the sense that 2009 was not a great vintage for this wine. The wine is not under ripe but the mix and overall feel is not what I expected from this label in comparison to its older relatives. I’m so-so on this wine at this point in time. It’s got the reputation to age and develop further so maybe leave it alone for a while longer.

Hulk Smash!

Kenny

Btw, I made it to 20 (followers)….. 😀 THANK YOU!

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