2014 Best's Great Western Thomson Family Shiraz

The Thomson Family Shiraz is produced from Henry Best’s original 1867 Shiraz plantings, and is only produced in exceptional years with yields typically at less than two tonnes per acre.

A sublime marriage of elegance and power

Totally opaque black dark purple colour with a bright dark purple hue. Delicately perfumed the nose exhibits a refined aromatic profile of violets, freshly crushed blackberries and liquorice followed by vanillin cedar, faint earth and pepper. Supple and rich with an understated concentration the palate is a seamless mesh of blackberries, liquorice, vanillin cedar, subtle dried meats, light earth, spice and pepper. Perfectly integrated velvet smooth tannins. A wine of great finesse with an understated richness and power that builds incrementally across the palate. Exceptionally long blackberry, liquorice, vanillin cedar, subtle dried meats and spicy pepper aftertaste.
Cellar 10-15 years.
Alc 13.5%

Other Reviews....
Bottle no. 39 of 2200 tells part of the story, but the front label also has in demure typeface 'original 1867 plantings'. This is a ravishing wine with a velvet and satin mouthfeel, and a rainbow of black, purple and blue fruits. Supple tannins are somewhere in the mix, likewise French oak, but don't bother dissecting what is an exquisite wine. As a point of principle, I'm not going to give 100 points for a table wine, but if I were, this would get the nod. Drink by 2054.
99 points
James Halliday - Australian Wine Companion