Wine of the Year

2021 BEST’S GREAT WESTERN FOUDRE FERMENT RIESLING

BEST’S WINES has won its fair share of awards. In 2012, it took out the Jimmy Watson for its 2011 Bin 1 Shiraz. In 2017, the 2014 Best’s Great Western Thomson Family Shiraz was Halliday’s Wine of the Year. But when Ben Thomson got the call saying Best’s 2021 Foudre Ferment Riesling had won the award in 2023, he was shocked. “I thought it was an April Fool’s joke when I was first told,” the managing director and fifth-generation family member says. “We’re a shiraz region. I’ve always believed we make great rieslings, but to win with one? It’s just fantastic. Surreal, but fantastic.”

The Foudre Ferment Riesling was one of the first wines Justin

Purser made when he joined Best’s in 2011. The winery had just received a 2500L oval-shaped oak vat known as a foudre, which was intended to ferment chardonnay.

But recalling an article written by Len Evans in the ’80s which spoke of the beauty of Best’s oak-fermented rieslings, Justin had other ideas.

Since the 2012 vintage, Justin has experimented with the length of time the juice has been left on skins (in 2012 it was four hours – in 2021, it was over 24 hours) and how long it’s fermented on lees in the foudre (it’s now about seven months – initially it was just three). The foudre’s size and unique shape imparts very little oak flavour, instead adding structure and freshness to the finished wine.

But like all good wine, it starts in the vineyard. “Wine only has one ingredient, essentially,” says Justin. “If your vineyard is well managed and well nurtured and cared for, you’re onto a pretty good start. It’s certainly the most important thing, that’s for sure.”

Ben Thomson is also the vineyard manager at Best’s Wines. His motto in the vineyard is “to do as little as possible to get what you need,” which means being observant and reactive rather than manipulative. “Most of your influence comes from the soil and the climate,” he says. Fruit for this wine came from two estate vineyards, Great Western and Rhymney, which although only 12 kilometres apart show quite different characteristics.

Also working in the team’s favour was the 2021 vintage. “It was a cracker – the best season we’ve had for many years,” says Ben, citing good rainfall, no frost risks, and great fruit-set, among other things.

Best’s Wines has a long history of fermenting wine in foudre, and although Justin Purser has recently left the winery, the Foudre Ferment Riesling will continue to be made. Don’t expect the exact same result, though. “We make wine to a style, not to a recipe,” says Ben. “We let the wine do what it’s designed to do: reflect the season.” Anna Webster

BEST’S WINES 2021 FOUDRE FERMENT RIESLING

96 points $35