The Jimmy Watson Winner: Bests Bin 1 Shiraz 2011
14%, Screwcap, $25
Source: Sample
www.bestswine.com

This wine officially won the Jimmy Watson trophy (and 2 others) at the 2012 Royal Melbourne Wine Show last night. I tasted it a few months back but never quite published the notes. Seems the right time for it…

If anything this is a very atypical Bin 1 – it has a lovely purple colour to it that is bright, if not quite as deep as the 2010. It smells of generous fruit, of blueberry and spice and white pepper, the liqueur plum of warm year Grampian Shiraz swapped for something more feline and spicy and berried. A little dash of Viognier just adds to the berrues. If anything, this smells more Yarra Shiraz than  Grampians red this year (thankyou wet and cold 2011 vintage) yet still recognisably regional and varietal.

The palate backs this up too, leaner and spicier and more pointed, the acid higher and the palate looking a little washed out through the middle, though it still has a nice blueberry thang. Lots of pepper and cloves over light fruit with a faintly bitter edge. Little tannins to speak of but certainly a vibrant number considering the vintage.

A very elegant wine for Bests and a quite atypically lean and herbal wine for Great Western, this is enjoyable in its mode but far from my favourite vintage of Bin 1. Still, it’s a clever style – just not my preferred vintage for this wine.

Drink: 2012-2018 
Score: 16.8/20 89/100
Would I buy it? No. Much prefer the 2010.