A hard-to-find wine outside of Rockford’s mailing list and tasting room (only about 600 cases produced, and they go quickly), but certainly the standard-bearer as far as sparkling Shiraz goes. The average age of Rockford’s nonvintage sparkling is 7 years; though it has 23 grams of residual sugar, it tastes just as I’d always envisioned a good sparking Shiraz would: like the still wine, but cold and with bubbles. Plums and juicy berries on the palate, with grape and violet aromas on the nose. Good luck finding it, but certainly grab it if you do.——D.T.(2/1/2004)—— 92