Two very different Australian icons: 1999 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon and 2008 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2008

Would I buy it? No.
At 18, I started working in a small suburban bottleshop, largely to buy cheap beer. It was my first year of university, slogging through physics and chemistry, so a liquor shop seemed like fun. Needless to say, I discovered wine, and my life evolved with a unique dual focus - wine and environment.
Twenty years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.
I now judge at wine shows around the world, sit on the Australian Wine List of the Year awards panel and was once a Wine Journalism Young Gun (but baby that was years ago).
Currently, I write features for a variety of publications including National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS, plus I'm a former Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.
In 2019 and 2020 I was voted in the Top 30 Best Wine Critics in The World, and in my spare time, I'm a sucker for punishment and run trail ultra marathons, much to the delight of my long-suffering family. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here
3 Comments
Couldnt agree with you more on the Rockford. This is a wine that has fallen from grace in recent years, but maybe my palate has moved on.
02 Rockford was similar .. 03 better than 02 and good as a young wine (I didn't cellar either of my 2 bottles). Haven't bought any recently but did buy some 2010 Rockford Cabernet which is very good.
You can still get the 99 Vat 1 in plenty of places – you have to pay though! Kemeny's have it for around 78 which is the cheapest I've seen anywhere. Costco were around 82