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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.6 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 51 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by depdoc on 4/14/2024 & rated 88 points: Last of my bottles. Not much fruit. (490 views) | | | Tasted by Ara Kafafian on 9/5/2023 & rated 91 points: From screwcap, slightly better than the one I reviewed last month. Seemed like there was more volume in the finish. (979 views) | | | Tasted by Ara Kafafian on 7/30/2023 & rated 90 points: From screwcap, possibly the lightest Dead Arm I have tasted. Not very complex yet silky. Doesn’t possess the typical tar and dark fruit components usually found in an Australian Shiraz. Still enjoyable but not sure it is worth it’s regular price. Drink over the following 5 years before the fruit fades away. (990 views) | | | Tasted by despore on 5/29/2023 & rated 89 points: A: deep, garnet
N: dried fig, ripe red and black plum, black pepper, vanilla/cocoa, earth, baking spice
P: dry, med (+) fine, smooth tannins, med acidity, high ABV
C: good wine = med (+) intensity, med concentration, med complexity, balanced tertiary notes/fruit with smooth tannins, med finish, med (+) length, drink now, already at peak. (1239 views) | | | Tasted by Barnaby33 on 6/30/2022: It completes surprise to the downside. It's green on the nose and it's green on the pallet. It doesn't quite come across as hot but it's certainly is not a good example of mclaren Vale or of dead arm. (2448 views) | | | Tasted by farinas on 11/21/2020 & rated 90 points: Dark color and dense tears. Intense wood and spices nose. Palate has moderate acidity, fleshy tannins, spicy heat, dark plums without much sweetness. Finishes medium. Need to be vintage picky here. (3774 views) | | | Tasted by WineAggregate on 8/15/2020 & rated 90 points: Light nose of sour cherry, cherry and blackberry fruit on the palate as well. Good juice, but not spectacular. (3530 views) | | | Tasted by americanstorm on 6/1/2020 & rated 93 points: This is in a really nice spot. 15 min decant and it was great from the first sip. Drank over three hours and it kept getting better for about 90 minutes and then it plateaued. Nice nose, good fruit, smooth totally integrated tannins. Some complexity and a ok finish. Worth its price imo. (3604 views) | | | Tasted by ctinoz on 5/15/2020 & rated 83 points: Quite closed nose (no fruit to speak off, a bit rubbery, petroleum - like walking into a mechanics workshop); quite intense palate with strong tannins and acid, deep, concentrated, but very little fruit coming through, more savory, medicinal, chemical kind of flavors. It's obviously built to be a blockbuster, but it's too intense and not balanced. Maybe I opened it too early, but I just can't see it becoming any better.
Tried this 3 times over 3 days, including a vigorous decant for part of the bottle. Maybe after air you start to detect some black fruits just trying to escape but being beaten by a rubberized mallet! (3334 views) | | | Tasted by graemeg on 9/8/2019: Etihad & Lufthansa - flights & lounges; 9/8/2019-9/14/2019 (Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt, Berlin): {screwcap, 14.6%} Rich blackberries, plums, black fruit jam; the whole show is here. Not overly oaky, just super-concentrated fruit. Still an inky-ruby colour too. The palate is lavish and warm, even a bit fumey. Rich and jammy, even at this altitude (somewhere at 35000 feet over the Northern Territory). Palate is warm though, and sits rather more on the front than you expect from a top-shelf McLaren Vale shiraz. Medium/full-bodied. Tending just a bit towards the over-ripe in my view, with the usual effects on length of finish (medium at best) and longevity; err on the side of caution. Good wine objectively, yet a bit behind the mark for a flagship cuvee. (Etihad EY451 First Class: Sydney-Abu Dhabi) (4133 views) | | | Tasted by Barnaby33 on 9/6/2018: Too young, tannic and brooding. Needs a few more years. Good fruit and structure though. (3555 views) | | | Tasted by Miceri on 6/30/2018 & rated 90 points: Dark red almost black; powerful, masculine, tobacco (3531 views) | | | Tasted by VoteferPedro on 3/23/2018: dark violet hue
the aromatics are fantastic
there are beautiful flowers with tart red fruit and a bit of eucalyptus thrown in...I could smell this all night
first sip was not balance but after 1.5 hours air the fruit (raspberries) and balance are there
I did notfind it over ripe nor dud I get alcoholic heat (both seem to disturb me in other aussie shirazs)
I am not at all sure how screwtop wines age. I have stored this at 57F sunce release BUT since there was no cork, it has stood upright
I wonder if that makes my impression more favorable than other recent reviews (3951 views) | | | Tasted by maxima on 12/6/2017 & rated 88 points: Super fruité et soyeux mais ne cadre plus dans mes gouts, un peu TOO MUCH, mais un verre une fois de temps en temps d'une bouteille d'un chum, c'est pas de refus! (4855 views) | | | Tasted by vintage_whine on 9/13/2017: reserved and as elegant as shiraz gets, still decent mint/cassis balance to be classic and enjoyable (4356 views) | | | Tasted by forceberry on 8/26/2017 & rated 88 points: 14,6% alcohol, 0,9 g/l residual sugar, 7,3 g/l acidity, pH 3,47. Aged for 18 months in barriques (old American, new French and old French).
Dense and concentrated black purple color, totally opaque. Surprisingly restrained nose with dark-toned aromas of asphalt, some peppery spice, a little bit of earth and a hint of concentrated blackberry. The wine is very full-bodied, opulent and chewy on the palate with rich and spicy flavors of crushed peppercorns, ripe blackcurrants, succulent blackberries, some sweet oak spice, a little bit of sunny dark fruits and boysenberries and a hint of charred meat. Overall the mouthfeel is quite massive and robust with moderately grippy tannins and relatively high acidity - for such monolithic body. The finish is long and meaty with concentrated flavors of ripe blackberry, robust spices, some meaty tones, a little bit of crunchy blackcurrant and a little bit of bitterness. The high alcohol lends a warming touch to the aftertaste.
A big and impressive Ozzie Shiraz, yet not as big and massive as I expected it to be. And that is not to say that this wine isn't monolithic. Despite its size, it shows some impressive structure and even a little bit of finesse. However, at 38,70€, I still expected a lot more. This is a blockbuster for sure, but not really one showing good value. Perhaps the wine would perform a bit better if left to age in a cellar, so it would lose some of its baby fat? I can imagine I would enjoy this wine a lot more with less extraction and more finesse. (3530 views) | | | Tasted by czar33 on 8/25/2017 & rated 90 points: Solide, plein de promesses, long et bien présent en bouche, du fruit et de beaux tannins, pas du tout lourd ou confituré. (3268 views) | | | Tasted by Psdycp on 8/12/2017 & rated 92 points: Fragrant and complex bouquet of toasty oak, cocoa power, blueberries, over ripe plums, earthy spices with savoury notes and hints of vanilla. Very big and intense in the palate, full of spicy black plums, licorice and spices (Clove & cinnamon) and some leathery notes in the mid-palate. But overall balance of lifted acidity, fine grained tannins and dark fruits in the structure. Not your super rich fruit Shiraz from Barossa, this Mclaren Vale has the finesse and sophistication to appeal. Need at least an hour in the decanter to open up. Wait for another 5 years to show its potential.
Retasted in Jan 2021, nose is still as complex but less forward. The cocoa and peppery spices are more pronounced now, showing good varietal character. Palate has a touch more elegance with everything in good balance, ending with with a long and deep finish. Ready to drink now and it should stay this way for the next 5 years. To increase by 1 point to 92 pts. (2974 views) | | | Tasted by peterag on 7/7/2017 & rated 89 points: Very dark color, high alcohol level that is easy to smelll/taste on the palate; very ripe cherries (2733 views) | | | Tasted by pipetree on 4/29/2017 & rated 89 points: Semi-lucent ruby core with a narrow vague rim and a purple tint. Medium white pepper, a hint of mushroom. Medium juicy cherry and lesser strawberry jam and a lingering fresh boxwood finish with a hint of caramel and some old oak in the long finish and Grape seed oil and a hint of latte at higher temperature. Medium acidity, dry, medium+alcohol, medium fine-grained drying tannin, medium+ body. Good balance holding the alcohol, solid and long length, good intensity, good complexity. 89+, at top and drink now. (2692 views) | | | Tasted by DanCulpitt on 3/27/2017 & rated 91 points: For those who like their McLaren Vale Shiraz on the younger side this is entering the drinking window. Very intense berry flavours with a long finish. The mouthfeel is very pleasant - it isn't quite as acidic and tannic as it was 12-18 months back. Obviously still has a decade or two left if you prefer more age and complexity on the wine. Doubtless a top Dead Arm vintage. (3061 views) | | | Tasted by srh on 1/14/2017: Winebar [Various Reds + a Celebratory Magnum] for 1/13/17 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): N: MUTED; some jam atop smoke with pyrazines underneath?
P: MF, poss Med, body; Almost swtish frt met by pucker early mid palate, this largely resolving by the VERY long finish. Seamless 7 excellently balance, this is a VERY well made wine which DESERVES several (min 3?) yrs in the cellar to reach its potential. :) (3455 views) | | | Tasted by despore on 12/26/2016 & rated 91 points: 6 hr decant and it opened quite nicely, rich Shiraz but with more tannins than expected, and less fruit than a 'typical' Dead Arm. (3076 views) | | | Tasted by Double-A on 11/1/2016 & rated 85 points: Concentrated blackberry nose. Dense and assertive fruit and tannin. Awkward, high acid that lingers to the finish.
2.5/5 (3211 views) | | | Tasted by peternelson on 10/15/2016 & rated 91 points: Warm shiraz notes, bright pruple rasp-blueberry, underlying spiciness, quite lively, light on its feet for this potent of a wine. Actually nice balance for McLaren Vale. (2902 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Sarah Ahmed
Decanter, d'Arenberg The Dead Arm vertical tasting (10/18/2019)
(d'Arenberg, The Dead Arm Shiraz, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (12/22/2016)
(d’Arenberg McLaren Vale The Dead Arm, Australia) Subscribe to see review text. | By Michael Godel
WineAlign (11/16/2016)
(D'arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz, Mclaren Vale red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Sara d'Amato
WineAlign (11/16/2016)
(D'arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz, Mclaren Vale red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, Australia Rediscovers Its Mojo (Mar 2016) (3/1/2016)
(D'arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm) Subscribe to see review text. | By Campbell Mattinson
The WINEFRONT (11/23/2015)
(d’Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Halliday
Halliday Wine Companion (11/1/2015)
(d'arenberg the dead arm mclaren vale shiraz) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Decanter and JamesSuckling.com and WineAlign and Vinous and The WINEFRONT and Halliday Wine Companion. (manage subscription channels) |
| d'Arenberg Producer website | Wine Doctor.com profile
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
Producer Location (Google Maps)
One of the most significant wineries in McLaren Vale founded in 1912. The winemaking processes of the past have been maintained, capturing the unique small-batch character of the wines and the true flavour of the McLaren Vale region. All grapes, red and white, are basket-pressed. The reds are still traditionally fermented with the grape skins (caps) submerged in open wax-lined concrete fermenters utilising the age-old technique of foot-treading.
Winemaking duties are carried out by fourth-generation Chester d’Arenberg Osborn. In June 2004 Chester’s father, d’Arry was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his contributions to the wine industry and to the McLaren Vale region. After more than 65 consecutive vintages d’Arry is very proud of his achievements in creating an internationally recognised wine brand commonly known as the ‘Red Stripe’ due to the distinctive diagonal red stripe that adorns the label. d’Arenberg’s art of being different extends to a range of fortified and dessert wines, which have legendary status worldwide.Shiraz Varietal article (Wikipedia) | Varietal character (Appellation America)The Dead ArmThe Story Behind The Name
Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half, or an ‘arm’ of the vine slowly becomes reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.
The Winemaking
Each batch of fruit received is gently crushed in our Demoisy open-mouthed, rubber-toothed crusher so as many of the berries as possible remain whole. After crushing, the must is transferred to open fermenters where the seeds and skins are permanently submerged beneath the free run juice.
The must receives no plunging or pumping over while fermentation occurs. Once the primary fermentation is nearly complete, traditional foot-treading takes place prior to basket-pressing. The wine is then transferred to barrel to complete its primary and secondary fermentation.
After 20 months every barrel is individually assessed for quality.
Only the best barrels are selected to be bottled as The Dead Arm Shiraz.Australia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)South Australia South Australian Wine Industry Association | South Australian Wines (Wikipedia)Fleurieu Fleurieu Wineries & Cellar Doors (southaustralia.com)McLaren Vale McLaren Vale (McLaren Vale Grape, Wine and Tourism)
(Hastwell & Lightfoot webpage) |
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