Rockford Shiraz Basket Press 2016

Robert "Rocky" O'Callaghan founded Rockford in 1984 with a daringly unfashionable idea: at a time when every other Barossa producer was racing to modernise, he went the opposite direction, snapping up unloved, century-old equipment — basket presses, open fermenters — from across the region and building his winery around it. His timing mattered enormously: the 1980s saw a government-backed vine-pull scheme pushing growers to tear out old, "uneconomic" vineyards, and O'Callaghan's evangelism for that very fruit — much of it 100 to 140 years old — is widely credited with helping save many of the Barossa's most historic sites from destruction. Basket Press Shiraz draws on small parcels sourced from nearly thirty of the region's finest old-vine growing families, spread across different Barossa sub-regions to build real complexity into the final blend. Every step honours that founding philosophy: hand-picked fruit, a wooden crusher, gentle basket pressing, open-top fermentation, and two full years maturing in seasoned (never new) American and French oak.

The result is deep garnet in the glass, with an earthy nose that broadens into espresso, dark chocolate, toasted nuts, and blackberry preserve, backed by leather and sweet spice. The palate is full-bodied and silky, with smooth, well-integrated tannins carrying through to a long finish of dark chocolate and candied fruit — bold and intense without ever tipping into overbearing. James Halliday scored the 2018 vintage 95 points, and the wine has built one of the most celebrated cellaring reputations in Australian wine.