Saturday, November 28, 2009

Best's Great Western (Victoria) Bin 0 Shiraz, 1994

Best's Bin 0 Shiraz was a $15 wine when I purchased this bottle in the mid-1990s. Produced from some of Australia's oldest and best Shiraz vines, I still consider it, at $60A, an undervalued treasure. I wish I had bought more in the 1990s.

The color is majestically deep and dark, and the bouquet is also very deep and Hermitage-like--black fruits, cassis, flowers and a cedary, spicy French oak note. I would guess that the wine has been aged in about 30 percent new oak plus some seasoned oak. Whatever it is, it is just the right amount to frame rather than hide the beautiful varietal characteristics of the fruit. On the palate, it simply gorgeous--ripe fruit upfront, followed by a plump mid-palate and a deeply concentrated finish. Very expansive--makes you feel like you have the whole bottle in your glass, and you can savor it forever. Although fully mature, it's a very young 15 years. This ranks right up there with the 1974 Dessilani Gattinara as one of my favorite wines of the year. Again: I wish I had bought more.

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