Bests Great Western Dolcetto, Great Western, Victoria

Description

Bests Great Western Dolcetto is rather unusual for an Australian wine, not many people thought to plant this Piedmont grape variety in Australia, apart from Henry Best who planted almost a quarter of his vineyard with it in the late 19th Century. Best’s Wines has been producing wine in the Great Western wine region of Victoria for over 140 years. Only 2 families have owned Best’s since it was founded – wines were first made by the Best family in 1866 and the estate was bought by the Thomson family in 1920. For the past 50 vintages fourth generation vintner Viv Thompson has been in charge of crafting Best’s wines, taking the “best” of modern innovation and blending it with tradition to arrive at wonderfully balanced and distinct Aussie wines. Best’s is now run by Viv’s son, Ben Thomson, the fifth generation of the Thomson family. The Dolcetto vines used to produce this 100% Dolcetto include some of the fruit from the original plantings. The rest of the fruit comes from cuttings made in 1971 from Henry Best’s original plantings. The wine is fermented in open top fermenters and aged in large, old oak barrels.