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Leabrook Estate
Leabrook Estate
It takes someone with a special touch to convert the weak and finicky Pinot Noir grape into the silky and elegant wine that sends fans into raptures. Leabrook Estate grapegrower and winemaker Colin Best is an expert at this ugly-duckling-to-swan transformation – his commitment to heavy pruning, low yields, optimum picking and meticulous attention to detail in the winemaking process results in a particularly classy drop.
Along with a Burgundian Chardonnay, Pinot Noir is Leabrook’s flagship wine. But this family-owned boutique winery, in the eastern area of the Adelaide Hills, also produces excellent wines from a range of other cool-climate varieties including Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
Colin, who has an engineering background, prides himself on fashioning wines that especially compliment food and his style reflects his passion for the French style of viticulture. This means the vines on his two-hectare vineyard are planted close for low yield and hand-picked, creating intensely flavoured grapes.
“I had considered that the French had close planted for a reason, based on 200 years experience, so why follow the Australian design of vineyards based on the width of a Massey Ferguson tractor?” he says.
Colin sampled his first Burgundy wines during dinner parties in the late 1970s and promptly fell in love. A trip to the historic French region in 1989 sealed the deal, and soon he was planning his retirement from engineering in favour of creating a Burgundian lifestyle in South Australia.
The first Leabrook Estate wines were released in 2001 and Colin and his energetic marketing partner Chris Best have since had their wines placed on the wine lists of some of the world’s most revered restaurants. – Megan Lehmann
Leabrook Estate Winemaker Colin Best
Wines from Leabrook Estate
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Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Cabernet Franc 2007
Cabernet Franc offers the typically herbal, chocolate, and dark berry flavours of its bretheren, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Often considered too 'uptight' f... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews » -
Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2007
With the "ABC" movement slowly fading into a memory, the quality and diversity of Australian Chardonnay has never been more evident than now. The Adelaide Hill... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews » -
Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Merlot 2008
Quality Adelaide Hills Merlot is a relatively scarce commodity. Few winemakers have had as much success with delivering appropriate ripeness and depth as Colin ... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews » -
Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris 2010
Colin Best is a winemaker who vinifies in constant blanace of substance and style, producing wines of length and complexity. The Leabrook Estate Pinot Gris is o... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews » -
Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2007
Leabrook Estate's flagship is one of the shining lights in the wave of quality Pinot coming out of the Adelaide Hills. Characteristic of the region, it is centr... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews » -
Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Adelaide Hills has fast become this country's premier region for sophisticated expressions of crisp, racy Sauvignon Blanc. Colin Best makes a balnced and textur... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews » -
Leabrook Estate Adeliade Hills Pinot Gris 2009
Nashi pears and lychee notes are balanced by lemon and grapefruit. The wine is texturally fascinating.... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews »