Winemaker Notes
Best’s Great Western as a Shiraz ‘house’, has gathered experience with the variety through the legacy of Best’s long winemaking history dating back to 1866. Bin 1 Shiraz is the wine that often gives people an introduction to the regional style of Great Western Shiraz. Made predominantly from Best’s own vineyards and meticulously crafted with the same attention to detail as the Icon wines, Bin 1 Shiraz represents the essence of Best’s winemaking ideals and the uniqueness of the Great Western region.
Bin 1 is a classic, cool climate, aromatic Shiraz, made in a style that is perfumed, spicy and peppery, yet well balanced with no overt dominance of alcohol. The 2016 vintage presents a very dark red color with a garnet hue. Lifted aromas of exotic spices, red plums, black jubes and black olives with some nutty notes in the background. Juicy dark red fruit flavours fill the mouth. The rich and ripe medium bodied texture is drawn out with powdery tannins for a long savoury finish.
This intensely fruited and structured wine is great to enjoy now with food but will soften and gain complexity over the next 10 years. Ideal to drink with Char Siu Smoked Pork and steamed Pak Choy in Oyster Sauce.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Very attractive white peppers and baking spices with a wealth of red-plum, mulberry and dark-raspberry aromas. The palate adds dark peach-like fruit to the mix, which is also present on the nose. Plums, cassis and cherries abound. Really saturated and velvety.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
If opening the 2016 Great Western Shiraz Bin No 1 anytime soon, I'd recommend giving it a quick decanting, as it comes out of the bottle quite funky. It'll come around quickly, if my bottle was anything to judge by, revealing raspberry, cola and black olive notes, along with ground spices like cinnamon, clove and star anise. It's a medium to full-bodied, fairly structured Shiraz, with mouthwatering acids and firm tannins. Ideally, give it a couple of years in the cellar.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Maybe it’s the incredible history that comes with this brand, but Best’s always have a timeless feel about them. From Western Victoria, this cool-climate Shiraz is a well-balanced combo of tangy cherries, plums, damp coffee grounds, black olives and scrubby herbs. It’s full bodied but soft spoken, with silky fruit, distinctive grainy, herb flecked tannins and a savory, earthy core.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Nestled into the tip of its southeastern coastline, Victoria is Australia’s smallest mainland state, second most populous and third largest wine producer. Victoria includes the cool regions of Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, made famous mainly by impressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The more inland Heathcote and Bendigo lead the way for complex and textured, full-bodied reds. Rutherglen’s fortified wines compete among the best on the planet.