Cab merlot wins best value tag

A wine from the Great Southern has emerged as Australia's best value drop in The West Australian's annual Top 100 red wine tasting.

The West Cape Howe cabernet merlot 2011, which sells for less than $15, was picked ahead of more than 500 wines from across Australia. It just pipped the Deep Woods Ebony cabernet shiraz 2011 and the Moondah Brook cabernet sauvignon 2012, which won the title last year with its 2011 offering.

Gavin Berry and Ray Jordan toast West Cape Howe.

West Cape Howe chief winemaker Gavin Berry said he was "stoked that the most important wine the company made had achieved this recognition".

"It's a huge result for us because it's one thing to receive a gold medal at a wine show, but quite another to receive this sort of recognition that says this is a really good drink," Mr Berry said.

"From the time we choose the fruit from our Mt Barker and Frankland vineyards our aim is to make a proper red wine with good structure but at a good price. We put a lot of time and effort into it and we are delighted with the result.

"In essence we have tried to make a wine with good palate weight and structure and not rely on tricking it up in the winery.

"The key is really in the vineyards, which supply such good quality fruit with the firmness of the cabernet and the juicy ripeness of the merlot an ideal combination.

"For me this is a wine that I like to drink at home. It shows that you don't have to spend a lot on wine to get something really good."

The tasting results feature in a special 20-page liftout in _The West _ today. The top 100 wines are split into four categories - under $15, $15 to $20, $20 to $25 and $25 to $40.

The best red wine was the Katnook cabernet sauvignon 2010 from Coonawarra in South Australia, just ahead of the Grant Burge Filsell shiraz 2010 from South Australia's Barossa Valley.

Source: The West Australian, 27 June 2013