Rockford Shiraz SVS Hoffmann 1997

The Rockford SVS range was never meant to be easy to find. That was the point.

Produced in quantities of just 100 to 300 cases per vintage, available only at the cellar door, and released six to eight years after bottling — these wines were Rockford's most uncompromising statement. Not a commercial product. Not a label designed for broad distribution. A private conversation between Robert O'Callaghan, a handful of growers he trusted absolutely, and the small number of people who knew to ask for them.

Rockford no longer produces the SVS range. What exists now is all there will ever be — a closed chapter of back vintages from 1996 through to 2005 and 2006, now at or approaching their peak drinking windows. Bottles that have been opened recently have shown magnificent complexity — dark fruit, cedar, tobacco, spice and earth, all seamlessly integrated, with the acidity and structure to sustain them for years yet