Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz 1997

Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz 1997Best's Wines is one of Australia's oldest family owned wineries, with a history dating back more than 150 years. They produce three shiraz, the flagship Best's Thomson Family Shiraz, the iconic Best's Bin 0 Shiraz and the cornerstone Best's Bin 1 Shiraz. Best's Bin 0 Shiraz is sourced from four low yielding Concongella Shiraz blocks established in 1966, 1970, 1992 and 1994. "Ample in weight, the wine has a fantastic power to weight ratio and finishes

It has all the right credentials and yet it tastes even better than it sounds

It's got all the flintiness

After a brief stint in New Zealand

which gives you an idea of what real fruit intensity is about

when it was acquired by Fogarty Wine Group

but it's also layered and complex – do I smell a violet or two

an old apple orchard in the Harcourt Valley in the foothills of Mt Alexander

The Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard in Martinborough consistently produces a stunning pinot noir with a silky layered texture

with red ironstone colouring the surface

operating and thriving by its connection to and harmony with the land

Helen was diagnosed with cancer and passed away

The barrel fermentation and the time on the lees has given the wine a creamy quality and a richness in the mouth but it is not an overtly oaky wine – though the oak does seems to give a spiciness on the palate – and what I particularly liked about it was the combination of generous fruit and the more subtle stony and fresh citrus aromas and flavours