An Australian wine icon, Best’s Bin No. 1 Shiraz, is celebrating its 21st birthday.

Best’s is celebrating 21 vintages of its most popular wine. What began as a vision in 2000 has evolved into a medium-bodied shiraz that embodies everything Best’s Great Western loves about making wine.

Over two decades, the wine has been refined in the hands of remarkable winemakers – Hamish Seabrook, Adam Wadewitz, Justin Purser, and now Jacob Parton – each adding their personal touch while staying true to what the wine represents.

Best’s been making shiraz in Great Western Victoria since the 1870s, and while trends may shift, its focus remains. The winemaker crafts just six distinctive shiraz expressions, plus two sparkling shiraz wines.

The winery’s cool Victorian climate and diurnal weather patterns, along with varying soils across the region – full of quartz, sand, clay, slate and gravel, combined define its medium-bodied shiraz.

The winemaker describes Bin No. 1 as “flavoursome and elegant, alive with pepper and spice. The tannins are textural, with generous fruit characteristics”.

“However, as my dad, our Chairman and Fourth Generation Viv Thomson OAM puts it perfectly, ‘this is a drinking wine, not a thinking wine. Simply pair it with good food, good company and enjoy’,” said Managing Director and Vineyard Manager Ben Thomson.

“Bin No. 1 Shiraz is crafted from our own Great Western fruit alongside parcels from trusted local growers, reflecting the strong relationships we’ve built with regional farmers who share our commitment to excellence. Great Western may be small, but our history and connection to shiraz remain a focus and point of difference.

“The most memorable moment in Bin No. 1’s journey occurred in 2012, when our 2011 vintage won the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for the best young red wine at the 2012 Melbourne Royal Wine Show. Now, more than a decade later, that style remains true and our commitment to making an affordable, flavoursome shiraz is more focused than ever.”

As to why the wine is named Bin No. 1, the tradition of numbering table wines to denote quality dates to the 1870s. In Australia, it was often paired with European descriptors like Claret or Hock – a practice borrowed from the Bordeaux classification of 1855. While Australia gradually moved away from this system, Best’s have maintained its historic No. 0 lineage on its Bin No. 0 Shiraz for over a century.

“When we launched our new shiraz in 2000, Bin No. 1 was the natural naming convention,” Thomson said.

Bin No. 1 Shiraz has an RRP of $27 and can be found in fine wine retailers, on premise and via its website: https://www.bestswines.com