1999 d'Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings

Community Tasting Notes (48) Avg Score: 90.0 points

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  5/6/2019 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 84 Points

  MNB: Australian Reds II (Home (Noe st)): Medium plus ruby with a garnet rim, unfiltered - some sediment.
  Nose smells tertiary (tamari and bottle sweetness). Quite old - sweet browned apples, but not totally dead. Some VA - perfume/fusel alcohols. Some clear wet stone / petrichor - like a damp cellar.
  Dry, full-bodied, 14.4% alcohol (actually 14.5%), powdery old cinnamon (new oak), medium plus tannins - still a bit grippy, medium plus acid. Faded and tertiary black fruit - blackcurrant. Hint of ripe, slightly raisined and dried blackberry. No overt pyrazines.
  
  Final call: Based on the elevated tannins and new oak, laterals include:
  - Shiraz - possibly but this is impressively tannic.
  - Cab / Shiraz blend - possibly
  - Cab - would expect more pyrazines.
  
  Final call:
  1997 Barossa Shiraz, something structured like D'Arenberg. Almost dead but there's some fruit here.
  
  Actually: 1999 Ironstone Pressings GSM, D'Arenberg
  Analysis: Score: 4 - I might have honed in on the slight raisination as variety of fruit character. This is barely holding on, but clearly a high-quality wine.
  
  70% Grenache (80-year old vines), 25% Shiraz, and 5% Mourvedre. Predominantly new French oak, yields of .5 tons per acre! That explains the intensity. Very deep and dark for a Grenache-dominant wine.

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  6/5/2018 - jayw wrote:

  This wine got neglected in the back of my cellar and I waited too long on it, but still enjoyable. There was an unpleasant funk on opening, but that blew off after 30 minutes. Not much fruit, it's mostly secondary flavors now. Celery, tobacco, bitter chocolate, iodine, blood, with some Grenache gaminess and faint cherry flavor.

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  10/22/2016 - randyscheffel wrote:

  Darn what mistake ��

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  1/25/2016 - GeorgeSW wrote: 94 Points

  Very impressive, dark fruit amazing bouquet of dark fruit with tobacco hints. Velvety tannins, opened up nicely over 2 hours

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  3/16/2015 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points

  Weekly tasting group #160; New World wines (@ WW): Complex and mature bouquet with tobacco, autumn impressions and luxurious oak. On the palate a mature but beautiful, refined and complex wine as well with mature cassis, some red forest fruits, chocolate and cinnamon, beautiful acidity and soft tannin. Maybe just a little past its peak, but still a really beautiful wine and I will still score it: 92

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