Forest Hill toasts best wine honour

Denmark’s Forest Hill shiraz has been crowned the best of the best by WA wine expert Ray Jordan.

In his 2018 top 100 reds review, The West Australian wine editor gave Forest Hill 2017 shiraz a total of 96 points for its intensity and peppery characteristics.

“The Forest Hill was highly scented and beautifully elegant, reflecting a new direction in winemaking and viticulture,” he said.

“Palate showed good fruit intensity but more in the red fruit spectrum.”

Forest Hill 2015 shiraz, which was released prior to their 2017 edition, was also awarded 95 points by renowned wine critic James Halliday.

The vineyard has a long renowned history in the Great Southern region since the 1970s and has held a five red star rating from James Halliday for several years.

Its production is now led by Liam Carmody and Guy Lyons, who lead their team with years of viticulture experience.

Mr Lyons said the Great Southern’s cool climate had given him the potential to produce great shiraz.

“Twenty-seventeen was a fantastic vintage for shiraz in the Great Southern in our opinion, as it was a long growing season and relatively mild so the fruit had plenty of time on the vine,” he said.

“It really shows the potential for cooler climate shiraz and that’s really exciting for the region.

“The wines have core of fruit weight and depth but with lifted aromatics and medium body.”

Forest Hill Winery has been in Denmark since 2004, but the real heart and soul of the winery is in its Mt Barker vineyard, which was established in 1965

The team will continue to focus on growing high-quality grapes that people all over the world can enjoy.