Rockford - An Embarrassing Rag  (18 October)

By way of background, let me start off by quoting two facts. Firstly, I'm a great supporter and believer in the Rockford winery and over the years, have written many positive things about their operation. Secondly, I have a completely open mind as far as the best way to seal wine is concerned. I am not a screwcap or alternative closures zealot, and firmly believe that at this point in time, there is not one perfect solution for sealing all wine. However, I do hate the negative effects that cork can bestow on wine, and have a completely open mind as to the best closure for each and every wine.

In February this year, I wrote an article called “ ‘Twas a Black Day”, that examined the use of cork in sparkling wine, particularly Sparkling Shiraz, and compared it to the alternative, a crown seal. As part of that article, because the Rockford Black Shiraz has an incredibly high level of leaking corks, in no uncertain terms, I castigated Rockford unmercifully for their continued use of cork in Black Shiraz, and refusal to consider alternatives. A lot of research went into the story. Rockford's was contacted on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the article was written, for comment. Basically the answers I received, whilst technically true, were at odds with my experiences. They completely failed to explain why other Sparkling Shiraz that had been under cork for similar periods of time had a much lower level of cork leakage/failure than the Rockford Black Shiraz.

That article caused quite a ruckus and much comment on the two main Australian wine forums. In addition, judging by some off the cuff comments made by a staff member that got back to me, Rockford 's was certainly not happy with the article, and it is quite probable that my article may have had some influence in Robert O'Callaghan's comments in the latest Rockford Rag in relation to the Black Shiraz.

In part, Robert states, "What I would like to talk about this year is ageing the wine. Traditionally all bottle fermented sparkling wines (both white and red) were made to be drunk within a few years of being released. If they were to be aged this was done in the cellars of the winery on lees then the wine was disgorged, re-cork and released for consumption. On the Black Shiraz back the label the message about bottle ageing has been the same on every release. Quote “…. Black Shiraz is matured in seasoned oak for three years, revitalised by bottle fermentation, left on lees for a year before disgorgement and liquering, and then put straight back in the cellar. You'd be doing as both a favour if you left there are a bit longer so it can really show its best.” A bit longer in this context would be twelve to eighteen months - this gives the wine a chance to settle down after disgorgement and the liqueur a chance to marry into the wine.

If you keep wine longer it continues to bottle age well, so long as the cellaring conditions are suitable. The limiting factor is that cork. When corks are put into bottles they are compressed and then spring back to their original shape to make the seal. In the case of still wine this compression is about fifteen percent but in the case of sparkling wine this compression is more like fifty percent. This happens because of the very high pressure within the bottle, if you open them immediately after bottling the cork springs back into the original shape but because it is compressed so much it loses this elasticity more quickly than cork in a still wine. Because we have committed to maintaining the traditional style we allocate a lot of time and money to age in the wine before release so if you open a bottle two years after disgorgement the wine will be six years old and the cork will be in top condition. As with all sparkling wine, if you keep them for a long time eventually the cork will start to fail.

You may ask why not changed crown seal. For more than twenty years we have been committed to keeping the very best of the traditional wine trade alive. Technology has made many contributions to the development of Australian wine, but if we all go down that road the best of the traditional wine trade will surely be lost forever. We are committed to ensuring that this delicious link to our wine heritage remains connected and so long as there are Stonewallers who want to share the joy of this uniquely Australian wine it will be there for future generations to enjoy.”

Tradition is a marvellous thing and I am all in favour of it, Rockford's are masters at maintaining tradition and full marks to them for doing such a fine job. No matter what way you look at it, winemaking is an interventionist process, the only question is how much intervention will be used to make the wine. Doing it the old-fashioned way is an admiral objective and one that I truly admire. However, when one doggedly sticks to tradition for the sake of it, and it results in an inferior product, then it is time for commonsense to prevail and examine alternatives. Such is the case with the corks in the Black Shiraz.

You can drive a Mack truck through the holes in Robert’s comments so here goes!

At the start of his missive, Robert mentions that traditionally, sparkling wines were made to be drunk within a few years of being released. This is a very interesting comment and whilst it does have some merit many wine lovers would not necessarily totally agree with it.

There is no doubt that many high-quality, sparkling wines will improve with a few years in the cellar, and many brands of NV champagne fall into this category, but whilst they "can” be drunk within a few years of release, that does not mean that they should "have” to be consumed young, and some people prefer to let the wine develop further, and show aged characters.

Robert then goes on to state what is on the back label of the bottle, suggesting that it is best consumed within 12 to 18 months after release.

Firstly, as someone who was (past tense) buying Black Shiraz for many years, like most wine lovers, I very rarely read the fine print on the back of any wine bottle. When you first become a mailing list subscriber, you normally don't get an allocation of Black Shiraz for some time. The first time you buy it, there is a very good chance you will have never seen what has been printed on the back label, so how are you meant to know what's there before you buy the wine?

Even more importantly, Robert’s words are completely at odds with comments expressed by his staff over many years, to countless customers. I have lost count of the number of times that I have heard staff members talk about how well the Black Shiraz ages.

During my recent trip to South Australia I was fortunate enough to experience a first-class lunch at the Rockford Stonewall restaurant. It was a truly memorable occasion and one that I will not forget for a long time. Interestingly enough, the first wine served was a 1996 Black Shiraz. Here is what I dictated at 12.04 pm on the 14th of September, way before this Rockford Rag was released.

The first wine served was a Rockford 1996 Black Shiraz which was presented in hand-painted and hand-made glasses. The first bottle of wine was corked so a replacement was opened. (We all know that a certain percentage of wines are going to be corked, so that is not really the issue here, but it has been included in the interests of full disclosure.) The wine is nicely matured and starting to show some aged characters. The fruit is still in pristine condition, the acid fresh and the wine finishes long, with an attractive creamy texture. It's a lovely wine that will keep kicking along for ages. A delightful flavour profile is presented by the marriage of blackcurrants and dark chocolate flavours that are sweet, but not overly so. It would be hard to find a Sparkling Shiraz that is much better than this, so it's rated as Outstanding.

Once again, the staff on this occasion were extolling the virtues of this wine and letting us know, in no uncertain terms, how well it had aged, and they were dead right. During the opening remarks to the luncheon, David Kalleske the General Manager stated that one of the objectives of the lunch “was to showcase the best (food and wine) that the Barossa was able to produce”, and given that objective one can only come to the conclusion that they also regard the 1996 Black Shiraz is a pretty smart wine.

In the Rockford Rag, Robert then goes on to state, "If you keep wine longer it continues to bottle age well, so long as the cellaring conditions are suitable. The limiting factor is the cork.” He then goes on to explain the technicalities of cork compression in still wine versus sparkling wine.

These comments are a hundred percent true; no argument from me about them, but lets a look at the implications. Firstly, my cellar is air-conditioned and that would be the case for many of the people buying Black Shiraz, so in those situations, storage conditions is not an issue. The most salient point in this entire missive is the one sentence where Robert states, "The limiting factor is the cork.” I could not agree more; it is the cork that is the issue!

Whilst Robert’s explanation about compression in sparkling wine corks is a hundred percent correct, there is one factor that he fails to mention. The percentage of leaking corks in Rockford Black Shiraz is horrific, and far higher than any other sparkling wine that I have ever purchased and cellared.

This is not just my experience. In confidence, a number of auction houses have disclosed to me, the percentage of Black Shiraz that they discover with leaking corks when checking wine that is going to auction. The figures are truly frightening. In my own case, after checking all my cases of Black Shiraz for the disgorgements between 2000 and 2004, the leakage rate was over 25 percent.

Admittedly many of those bottles will be drinkable, but some will have certainly lost “their sparkle” or have reduced appeal. Add to that the problems of inevitable cork taint, and the rate of less than perfect wines is simply unacceptable.

On a number of occasions, I have directly asked Rockford's why the leakage rate in Black Shiraz is far higher than the leakage rate in other Sparkling Shiraz, that have been under cork for similar periods of time. Unfortunately no answer has been provided; indeed no explanation of any description has been given.

On one hand Robert (and the staff) are saying the wine will age well, but on the other Robert and the bottle label is saying drink about twelve to eighteen months after purchase, because the “limiting factor is the cork.” In a nutshell, I translate this to mean, “We know that we have a great product; it is capable of being sublime with age; we have chosen cork to seal the wine; if it fails it’s your problem because we have disclosed the potential for failure and the risk is all yours.”

This from a company that prides itself on looking after its customers!

Robert’s reason for not changing to Crown seals is because “of his commitment to keeping the very best of the traditional wine trade alive.” Unfortunately the corks in Black Shiraz can not be classified as “the very best of tradition” and the sooner Robert O'Callaghan understands this, the better.

Rockford’s have now released two labels, the White Frontignac and the Alicante Bouchet, under screwcap. This move is totally inconsistent with “tradition” – the motive Robert states is the reason for not going to crown seals on the Black Shiraz.

Put very simply, why not give customers the choice; bottle some under cork and some under crown seal. When Seppelt's tried that experiment with their Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz, the wines that were sealed under crown seal, sold out well in advance of those under cork.

Finally, Robert's closing sentence states, "We are committed to ensuring that this delicious link with our wine heritage remains connected and so long as there are Stonewallers who want to share the joy of this uniquely Australian wine it will be there for future generations to enjoy."

There are many existing Stonewallers who want to share in the joy of this uniquely Australian wine, but will not take the risk of buying it because of bad past experiences with the corks used in Black Shiraz. If Robert truly wants his customers to enjoy this wine, give them the choice of cork or crown seal because this issue is not going to go away as long as Black Shiraz corks keep leaking at the current rate.

Whilst I was writing this article, and e-mail came in with a link to a story stating that Taittinger is considering switching to synthetic corks and other alternative closures. According to the article, ‘Cork is a big problem," Mr Court told guests at a Taittinger tasting at the French Embassy in Canberra. "It is ridiculous for us to spend five, or even 10 years, creating something beautiful, only for it to be ruined by cork.”’

Also, when I was writing this article, I happened to speak with one of Rockford’s most loyal customers, and without any prompting from me, he made a comment which is a great closing line for this article. He said, “What Robert wrote about the Black Shiraz is embarrassing. He is blind to the problem.”

Feel free to submit your comments!

Copyright © Ric Einstein 2006