96 Points - Ken Gargett
Old, extremely low-yielding McLaren Vale vines are responsible for d'Arenberg's The Dead Arm Shiraz; one of McLaren Vale's flagship red wines. This iconic wine always displays the power and intensity of McLaren Vale Shiraz, yet has an elegance and refinement that few other wines from the region possess.
Selected parcels of premium fruit from across over a century of d’Arenberg’s top vineyards are artfully blended to create this stunning Shiraz. The 2020 d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz opens with dark fruits, plum, and lovely fennel seed twists. Rich balsamic glazed beets, roasted meats and jus give layers of complexity unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Superb balance. Slaty, persistent, mineral like tannins bring a generous framework for decades of cellaring. This is a wine of history and provenance. Highly collectable, The Dead Arm is widely considered one of McLaren Vale's finest Shiraz.
"96 Points. This is one of the McLaren Vale’s iconic Shiraz, indeed iconic wines, although it has been significantly supplanted in the pricing stakes by many of its competitors, making this cracking value. Fermentation is completed in a mix of new and older French oak barriques. An opaque maroon verging on black/blue, the nose reveals aromas of chocolate, cassis, plums, fruit cake, blackberries and licorice. There is excellent oak integration here in this wine of concentration and power. Really good length through to fine satiny tannins with a line of fine acidity running the full journey. A twenty year proposition. So much to like about this wine. $78. Drink: 2025 - 2045."- Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.
"94 Points. About 10% new oak, with the remainder seasoned French, for 18 months. This is classic Dead Arm: dense, black fruited, kissed by the earth, riddled with black spices, licorice and bitter chocolate. Tannins are typically intense, though in step with fruit for those craving an intense, structured style of shiraz from a not-so-recent past. There is no trend here, rather an estate that is holding its line, making wines that it believes in and that have proven to age well over a significant period. $78. Drink: 2025 - 2038. 14.5% alc"- Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion.
