2024 Best's Old Vine Pinot Meunier
2024 Best's Old Vine Pinot Meunier

2024 Best's Old Vine Pinot Meunier

98 pts
Best's Great Western |Great Western |Pinot Meunier
An absolutely classic and completely unique Australian red wine - just an outstanding old vine Pinot Meunier.
4.0
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars
1 Review
Price:
$150.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

This wine is a little piece of Australian history.

The year is 1868. Eleven rows of Pinot Meunier are planted alongside a little Pinot Noir at Best's Great Western. Phylloxera wipes out Europe's vines, yet Best's vines remained untouched.

They now boast the oldest vines of this variety on the planet.

There is ever so little of this wine made. Most years, it is declassified down into the Young Vine Pinot Meunier, but every so often the quality and quantity is high enough to warrant a solo release. Each vintage is highly collectable.

It disappears into the cellars of people in the know very, very, quickly. This is a rare bird in Australian wine and one well worth saving for a special occasion.

98 points
"This is an outstanding bottling from the oldest producing pinot meunier vines in the world... Magical and unique, yet so classic."
- Ryan Montgomery (James Suckling)

Jeni Port

Jeni Port

Halliday Wine Companion 95 Points

Off two blocks from original plantings in 1868. 25% whole bunch during fermentation, nine months' ageing in French hogsheads. The original and still the best, old vines bring such complexity and depth to this wine. Fragrant in cranberry, red cherry and wild strawberry fruits that meld with dried herbs, rosehip and musk. Medium bodied, it offers upbeat cherry-led flavours that are bright and brisk across the palate with background herbals and a note of red licorice. Sinewy, fine tannins provide both juiciness and a sense of elegance.

Ryan Montgomery

Ryan Montgomery

James Suckling 98 Points

This is an outstanding bottling from the oldest producing pinot meunier vines in the world. It is perfumed and lifted, featuring aromas of red and purple fruits, subtle hints of raspberry bush, spice, lead pencil and an underlying earthy tone. The palate is medium-bodied, with silky tannins, bright acidity and a persistent length that offers both power and restraint. Magical and unique, yet so classic. Drink now or hold. Screw cap.

Customer Reviews

4.0
Rated 4.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 1 review
Total 5 star reviews: 0 Total 4 star reviews: 1 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
  • D
    David
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    5 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Reviewing
    2021 Best's Great Western Old Vine Pinot Meunier
    Rated 4 out of 5 stars
    A great find!!!

    This was my first venture into Pinot Meunier and I was pleasantly surprised. Immediately approachable although it will develop very interestingly over some time in the cellar. Good fruit and very clean.

    Was this helpful?

This is one of the wines the Thomson family and the whole team really get excited about. Not only because of its limited production and rarity, but because we all simply love to drink it. Young or old, it amazes us for its balance, length, flavours, longevity and its simple drinkability.

The Best's Old Vine Pinot Meunier is the ultimate wine that speaks of place, and it has a cult following, particularly in the wine community and the trade where people understand how rare this varietal planting is. In the past decade,

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Light Bodied
Variety Pinot Meunier
Country Australia
Region Great Western
Australian State VIC
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
James Suckling
Critic Score 98
Alcohol 12.5%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Screw Cap

Best's Great Western

Best's Great Western is one of the oldest family-owned wineries in the country.

Their iconic Nursery Block is home to some of the oldest clonal material for particular varieties that can be found anywhere in the world. Established in the late 1860s, this precious vineyard is envied by much of the wine growing world.

Their wines are consistently excellent: the Shiraz dark and powerful, the Rieslings full flavoured and impeccably balanced, and the rare releases of Old Vine Meunier and Thomson Family Shiraz are some of the most collectable red wines in the country.

The Thomson family, and the Best family before them, have given us one of the true treasures of the Australian wine scene.

Viv and Ben Thomson Best's Great Western

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