A real insider's wine, Best's make the most flavoursome, elegantly structured and spectacular Rieslings which stand confidently alongside their more famous cousins. The Great Western region lends itself very well to growing exceptional quality fruit, diurnal weather patterns work very well, allowing grapes to ripen naturally, yielding luscious lemon and lime blossom flavours with great acid balance. Some of the original plantings can be traced back to German vineyards, there is great history and pedigree in the root stock of Great Western Riesling.

There are few Victorian grown Cabernet Sauvignon as imposing and statuesque as those of Great Western. The parched, ruddy soils and brisk arid climes breed a style of Cabernet as gallant and ornate as the distinguished growths of Tuscany and Bordeaux. Small yields from gnarled old vines, a precious harvest of desiccated little berries, defined by a concentration and intensity of flavour. Its vivid varietal elements of black brambles, currant and cassis, supported by a tapestry of tannins and scented with the exuberant perfumes of violet blossoms, mocha and leaf.

Given the scarcity of Best's prestige, limited release, old vineyard icons, Bin #1 affords enthusiasts their first taste of the Great Western Shiraz style and leaves them eager to discover more. A classic, cool climate, aromatic wine, floral and spicy, peppery and elegant, retaining vital Great Western fruit character. Very ready to drink upon release, in the enduring Best's style, demonstrating the unique splendor of Great Westen Shiraz. Bin 1 is a great accompaniment to fine food, the celebration of a century's history at Best's Great Western.

Excellent Langtons Classification. Bin 0 Shiraz is produced from the four original Shiraz plantings on the low yielding blocks of the historic Concongella Vineyard at Great Western. This includes nineteenth century and mid twentieth century plantings of Shiraz which yield meagre harvests of the most amazing quality grapes.

Excellent Langtons Classification. One of the nation's most enduring wines, vinified from hand picked and sorted grapes grown to the four original Shiraz plantings on the historic, low yielding Great Western blocks.

Excellent Langtons Classification. Shiraz has been produced at Best's Great Western since the late 1800s, although an actual date of the inaugural Bin 0 has been lost in the annals of time. Top of the league from start to finish, what is certain is that Bin 0 is generally produced from Best's oldest plantings, selected from the lowest yielding blocks of the historic Concongella vineyard at Great Western. This includes nineteenth century and mid twentieth century plantings of Shiraz which yield meagre harvests of the most amazing quality grapes.

A compilation of several blocks Great Western Riesling, treated to the luxury of a wild indigenous yeast ferment in a single, extravagant 2500 litre French oak foudre, coopered at the Burgundy barrel works of Marc Grenier. Candidate parcels of fruit must exhibit the wanton opulence of floral nectars and honeyed sweetness before entering the Frankish Foudre, its slowly fermenting juices coalesce into a full flavoured Riesling wine with the grainyness of oatmeal and autolysis of oak, roman nougat and spice, magnificently gingered with bickford lime and crisp acid finish.

Pinot Meunier like no other, certainly the most distinguished bottling of its kind anywhere in the new world. Mostly old vine Concongella Pinot Meuniere, from grapes picked off parcels established 1970, with the inclusion of a priceless component of ancient vines 1868 Pinot Noir. A legacy of the Victorian Klondike, originally planted with a view to quenching the thirst of pioneer gold miners. Its brooding nose of freshly turned earth, baked spice and potpourri, precede a punchy, savoury palate of gummy red pectin flavours, undulating over a fine, super satin weave of divine, silky tannins.

Amongst the many priceless bequeaths which are part of the Bests portfolio, are an 1868 planting of Pinot vines, probably established with a view to formulating luxury sparklings in the style of Champagne. A small parcel of Pinot Noir amongst the mostly Pinot Meuniere, later identified as a historically significant mix of Swiss and French clones, may very well be the oldest productive Pinot Noir vines in the world today. A pure bottling of these invaluable heirlooms, redolent of strawberries, powerful and intense, old vine Pinot of extraordinary elegance and finesse, silky of tannin and persistent in length.

The partnership of Roger Milner and Jane Holt emerged out of a juncture in mineral exploration, eventually leading to vintages at Passing Clouds and Chateau Reynella. They selected a site just outside of the main nexus of Pyrenees estates to plant vines. Ironically settling on the very terrain operated a century earlier by a pioneer named Berry who had also planted Shiraz.

A dry grown, single vineyard, hand crafted Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon. George Berry started his vineyard and orchard in 1862 on the banks of Carapooee Creek. Whilst some rootstock 110 to 140 years old can still be found, today's Berry Bridge are the fruit of plantings by Jane Holt and Roger Milner. Milner developed his passion for viticulture after several vintages at Chateau Reynella in the 1970s. He joined forces with Holt BAppSc(WineSc) & AssocDegAppSc(Wine-growing), and happily took on the challenge of re-developing the site.

Amherst is a town rich with colourful history and local folklore, site of the first official gold find in 1851, it launched a mining rush which expanded throughout central Victoria. The district's long association with viticulture is also prolific and colourful. Vines were planted here in the earliest days of settlement, many of the miners turned their efforts to winegrowing or constructing cellars for the burgeoning wine industry. A superior single site Shiraz from fruit grown to elite parcels, a mere hundred dozen, bottled with minimal fining and filtration to preserve the integrity of a great vineyard.

Samuel Dunn was an early Amherst resident, one of the first settlers to plant grapes in the Pyreness. His land was exploited for sheep grazing, until diggers found the locality alive with gold. The property was returned to viticulture in the 1990s and has since earned a reputation for limited releases of the finest Pyrenees wines. As with all vintages of Amherst, the amount of oak and alcohol are kept in check to ensure that the wine remains in perfect balance, the tannin structure is soft and very fine. An attractive prospect alongside well marbled beef and the finest haute cuisine.

Vinified from parcels grown to splendid Pyrenees vineyards, fashioned to be a generously proportioned wine with generous weight of fruit and firm, meaty tannins. Grapes are all hand picked, destemmed and inoculated for several days of ferment, basket pressed into a selection of new and seasoned oaks for an extended term of age. Enticingly perfumed of violets and morello cherry, a palate entry of blackberries and plum, spiced chocolates and prune over a fine structure of dutch chocolate tannins, a fully fragrant finish of blueberries and bramble over refined vanilla pencil oak.

Positioned half way between Avoca and Ballarat, the modestly sized Amherst have only ten acres under vine. The small yields translate into extraordinarily structured, powerfully intense wines, brimming with fine aromatics and lined with silky tannins. Local folklore has it that a shepherd discovered gold at Daisy Hill in 1848, the region flourished and suitably arable parcels were planted to vine in the 1850s. The enduring, full bodied Aussie Claret style, supple and soft after fan extended maturation in quality oak barriques, thoroughly approachable as a youthful wine.

The Daisy Hill district thrived throughout the 1850s, due to its location along the main route to and from gold fields. The Amherst property sits atop old alluvial tailings, ancient diggings can still be seen around the property dressed in rich quartz soils. The highly sought wines pay tribute to the heritage surrounding the vineyard. Amherst distinguishes its exceptional vintages, naming them after regional folklore, such as an escaped convict who was the first to cultivate local land, or the ancient Chinese market gardens, which dispensed fresh produce to the gold fields of yesteryear.