Ranked #2 of 25 1998 Shiraz from Barossa Valley
97/100
5 Stars
Huon Hooke
A beautiful bottle of a top vintage wine. Glorious complexity of roasted meats and dried mushrooms, rich, concentrated and gorgeous. A sumptuous mature shiraz, drinking at its best right now. (Cork)
Tasted: 27/05/2020
Drink: N/A
90 Points Robert Parker
When dealing with cork-sealed wines at 20 years of age, it's difficult to know how truly representative a particular bottle is. That said, this bottle of Rockford's 1998 Basket Press Shiraz was just starting to dry out, and while it showed some sweet, attenuated fruit, it also showed less flattering hints of dried leaves. Drink up!
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Joe Czerwinski. August, 2018
90 Points Robert Parker
Given his very traditional style of winemaking, my instincts suggest these wines probably are least impressive in their first several years of life, and that certainly seemed to be confirmed by the best vintages in the vertical. Nevertheless, this wine is loaded with potential. The wine exhibits a saturated black ruby/purple color, a superb nose of blackberries, relatively high tannin, a full body, and a closed, dense, chewy constitution. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020.
Source: Robert Parker (eRobertParker.com) by Robert M. Parker, Jr. January, 2002
90 Points Robert Parker
A fine offering was the 1998 Shiraz Basket Press. While not a great value, it is an outstanding effort displaying a dense purple color, a jammy, blackberry fruit bomb character, a supple texture, formidable glycerin, full body, and a lush mid-palate and finish. It should drink well for at least a decade.
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Robert M. Parker, Jr. June, 2001
Given his very traditional style of winemaking, my instincts suggest these wines probably are least impressive in their first several years of life, and that certainly seemed to be confirmed by the best vintages in the vertical. Nevertheless, this wine is loaded with potential. The wine exhibits a saturated black ruby/purple color, a superb nose of blackberries, relatively high tannin, a full body, and a closed, dense, chewy constitution. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2020.Source: Robert Parker (eRobertParker.com) February, 2002 by Robert Parker