2021 Best's Great Western Old Vine Pinot Meunier

Highly Rated
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:
Sale price$125.00
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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.

96 Points - "Hand-picked fruit fermented in small, open-top fermenter with 25% whole bunches, basket pressed to French barriques (25% new), matured 8 months in oak. Sourced from the original 1868 plantings of pinot meunier. Prepare yourself for an exquisite beauty of a wine. It enjoys an effortless purity of fruit; from aroma to palate there's a delicacy of concentrated red berries, pomegranate, violet, dusty earth, underbrush and dried herbs. Superfine across the palate, almost sinewy at this early stage, but supported by firm, focused tannins for a lot more time in bottle. A lot more." - Jeni Port (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 Points - "Medium ruby colour with a good purple tinge. The bouquet has depth and savouriness, all about dried herbs, porcini mushrooms and peppery dried meat and bresaola. It is light-bodied but beautifully textured and supple, super-refined, with great drinkability and is already starting to show complexity. Long and satisfying in the mouth. A superb example of the grape." - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

94 Points - "Red cherries, plums, dried oranges, sliced mushrooms and wet earth on the nose. It's medium-bodied with fine, silky tannins and a creamy texture. Earthy, spicy edge. Long and complex. Drink now or hold. Screw cap." - JamesSuckling.com

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
    4 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    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.

Reviews LoadedReviews Added

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
Feature High Score
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Real Review
James Suckling
Critic Score 96
94
Alcohol 12%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2021
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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Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

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