Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz 1997

Best'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 with excellent persistence. An impressive amalgam of intricate, contrasting flavours fills the mouth; the combination of pepper, musk and multiple sweet berry flavours works brilliantly. Rated as Excellent."  Ric Einstein

Expert reviews

"Deep red colour with the merest tinge of brick. The bouquet is rich and balanced, ripe and clean, with harmony and appeal. Red berries and a trace of fresh herb. Mint and vegetable stock-pot. Very good and developing superbly. Drink: 2016–2027."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 93 points (Tasted Apr 2016)

"One of the more understated classic wines, produced entirely from estate-grown grapes, made with a minimum of artifice and with high-quality fruit, rather than oak, doing the work. Medium red-purple; the bouquet is quite fragrant, with a mix of cherry, berry and mint, the palate with fresh, lively fruit, fine acid and tannin balance, and subtle oak."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 92 points

"An inviting, wonderfully complex bouquet with warm multiple berry (blue) spectrum aromas contrasted by shades of cool pepper and aniseed; the sort of wine that is a joy to sniff. Ample in weight, the wine has a fantastic power to weight ratio and finishes with excellent persistence. An impressive amalgam of intricate, contrasting flavours fills the mouth; the combination of pepper, musk and multiple sweet berry flavours works brilliantly. Well backed by smooth, tight tannins that are integrating well, the acid is still fresh and the wine is just entering its prime drinking window; it will hold for years and probably gain additional complexity as it ages. Rated as Excellent."  Ric Einstein, www.torbwine.com  (Tasted Sept 2005)

"Purple. Lovely bright colour. Very ripe nose. Some oak influence. Sweet, like sucking on a boysenberry icy-pole. Robust and concentrated, but still maintains a high degree of elegance. Leave it alone for a while and then enjoy it even more."  Andrew Wood, Divine Magazine April 2001

The history of bin 0 

"The evolution of Bin No 0 began more than 150 years ago when Henry Best planted vines at the Concongella Vineyard in 1868. We believe that Henry adopted from the start the style of labelling of the day. We started to move away from the use of European descriptors in the 1980s. However, our first Bin 0 Shiraz didn't appear until 1990.

So what makes this wine so special? It's always been produced from our oldest vines. The fruit is selected from the lower yielding blocks of the historic Concongella vineyard at Great Western. This vineyard is home to 19th- and 20th-century Shiraz plantings, which result in low-yielding, intensely flavoured fruit. We hand select, sort and ferment the fruit in small batches followed by intense barrel selection.

Best's No. 0 is an Australian classic with an impressive pedigree of nearly 150 vintages. It is powerful yet elegant, complex yet harmonious, with many years of great vintages ahead of it yet. Bin 0 has been awarded "Excellent” by Andrew Caillard MW within the esteemed Langton's Classification.

When Viv Thomson started making Bin 0 decades ago, it was a different story to how the winery is run these days. His work in the cellar was done by candlelight, with limited electricity, no fermentation control, no new oak and horses carrying out lots of the back-breaking work in the vineyard."  Best's Wines

About the winery

The story 

The story of Best's begins in 1866 when Henry Best purchases 30ha of land in the small town of Great Western. It was a property named Concongella. Henry planted the first vines in 1868. Best's original vineyards are among the oldest and rarest pre-phylloxera plantings in the world. The Nursery Block contains 39 varieties and that are thought to be sourced from the Busby collection, Australia's first vines. A number of the vines planted in the Nursery Block have defied identification and are thought to exist nowhere else in the world. 

In the early 20^th century, Henry Best presents his wines throughout Europe and was awarded gold medals in Paris, Bordeaux, Brussels and London. In 1913 Henry Best dies at age 81 and is buried in the Great Western cemetery. 

In 1920 the Thompson Family purchases the Concongella Vineyard from the Best family. The Thompson Family had originally settled in Great Western in 1893 and purchased a winery at Rhymney (13km south of Henry Best). 

In 1961 Viv Thomson joins his family for his first vintage. In 1967 Best's Old Vine Pinot Meunier was first produced. In 1975 Viv decided to appoint the first external winemaker, Trevor Mast. Best's had grown significantly and Viv was needed to manage the company and develop relationships further afield.  

The 1992 vintage of the flagship Thomson Family Shiraz is first released in 1993 to commemorate 100 years since the Thomson family settled in Great Western. In 2000 Best's cornerstone wine, Bin No. 1 Shiraz is made for the first time. 

In 2008 Viv Thomson hands over the reins of the company to son Ben. In 2020 the Thomson Family celebrates 100 years as custodians of Best's Wines. 

Notable Awards 

2011 Best's Bin 1 Shiraz wins the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at the 2012 Royal Melbourne Wine Show.

2014 Best's Thomson Family Shiraz wins the 2017 Halliday Wine of the Year.

Langton's classifies Best's Thomson Family Shiraz as 'Exceptional' and Best's Bin 0 Shiraz as 'Outstanding' in 2018

Best's awarded Best Value Winery of the Year in James Halliday's 2021 Wine Companion.

2021 Foudre Ferment Riesling wins the 2023 Halliday Wine of the Year.