2020 Best's Great Western Riesling Grampians 750 ml

From one of Australia’s oldest wineries comes one of its most startling finds. Put aside the 96-point score for a moment. This is a Riesling made in the semi-arid hills of Victoria, with an intrinsic combination of freshness and depth reminiscent of prized sites in Germany’s Mosel or Rheingau regions. 

It’s a top-notch, cellar-worthy white that basically no one in America has ever heard of. We literally can’t get enough! But we scooped up all we could, because this is a white wine that should not be missed. 

Best’s Great Western looms large on the booming domestic Australian market. But with so little made, the wines barely leave Oz, leading the eminent critic James Halliday to name them “among Australia’s best kept secrets.” 

Now back to that score. James Suckling’s 96 points for an Australian Riesling is actually about as rare as it sounds—only a handful earned such high marks, and all of the others were from more heavily marketed regions like the Eden and Clare Valleys. “Lots to like here,” Suckling said, pointing to the “low-yielding vintage with high-quality grapes” that “will age very well.” 

Frankly, while Best’s Great Western Riesling makes for delightful, mouth-tingling refreshment today, this is also one of the most age-worthy white wines made in the southern hemisphere. We can’t wait to see how it develops over the course of the next 10 years.

First planted in 1866 on land now officially designated as part of the tiny Great Western appellation, in a region called The Grampians, Best’s is one of the oldest wineries in Australia and boasts some of the world’s oldest ungrafted vines. The estate only changed family ownership once in all that time. The Thomsons, who own it now, took over after decades of working with Henry Best, the original owner. They’ve since held it for five generations, more than 100 years.

Like all great wines, their Riesling arises from the intimate and careful cultivation of a site with amazing natural potential. Normally, that combination comes at a premium. But with Best’s (and arguably, with great Riesling more broadly), the buyer’s market rages on.

This one has that rare tension that drives us wild. Long, bright days of high-altitude sunshine, offset by cool nights and a drawn-out ripening season, lead this wine to develop a deeply expressive balance between vibrant fruit, bright acid, and textural richness. 

It’s tart and refreshing, limey in the ways that have come to define Australian Riesling, with a high-definition crystallinity that stands the citrus on end. But it’s got something else going, too. Rich enough through the mid-palate to make us think of lemon custard and ripe white peach. Toward the finish, we pick up a very subtle honeyed quality that’s just brilliant. Technically, the wine has enough residual sugar to classify as barely off-dry, but its vibrant acidity means the sweetness only manages a brush of the lips.

Don’t blink on this offer or you’ll miss it. And believe us, for Riesling fans or fans of ageable white wines in general, this is one not to be missed.