Bests Great Western Riesling

Riesling at Best’s Great Western has a long and illustrious history. Henry Best planted our Concongella Vineyard in 1868. Riesling was one of the first varieties planted in this historic patch of earth. As a matter of fact, the importance of these plantings has attracted scientists from Geisenheim University in Germany to take cuttings, to identify the source of these vines and to potentially improve the mother vines material in Germany.

What we do know is that the Riesling planted at Best’s predates most of the existing vines in Germany. Germany, the spiritual home of Riesling and that phylloxera wiped out the Old World vineyards in the late 19th century.

In the viticultural timeline at Best’s, the next substantial planting of Riesling after the 1868 vineyards was in 1944. Subsequent plantings were made at Concongella in 1978 (in the House Block) and at Salvation Hills vineyard in 1999.