x
  • Country ranking ?

    181
  • Producer ranking ?

    12
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    fresh Garden Corn and Tomato Salad

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

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. It’s vibrant and lifted on the nose with bustling red fruits and savoury spice. The palate is long, linear and pure with tightly wound tannin and mouth-watering acidity. Beneath the layers of blueberry, pomegranate and Satsuma Plum is an intriguing core of earth and crushed rocks. If stored correctly, this wine should age for 15+ years.

Close

The Story

The 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 Characteristics

A classic Dead Arm in every sense of the word. The nose is brooding and alluring, earthy notes combined with dark fruits, fennel and baking spice. The longer this wine sits in the glass, the further it unfurls opening into notes of sweeter berry fruit laced with more of those soily, forest floor notes.


The palate is dense and concentrated with a plethora of fruit characters, plum, blackberry, mulberry, earth, iodine and black olive. Despite the richness and intensity of the attack and mid palate the experience surprisingly crescendos with a lick of spicy pepper, coupled with lovely, fined grained, textural tannins that seem to persist in the mouth forever. Complex, savoury and moreish!

100% McLaren Vale Shiraz

 

 

Close

Wine Information

Small batches of grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to five tonne headed down open fermenters. These batches remain separate until final blending. Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation. The wine is then basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of new and used French and old American oak barriques to complete fermentation. The barrel ferments are aged on lees, there is no racking until final blending and no fining or filtration.

Close

Tasting note

Be the first one to make a 20s tasting note!

Written Notes

There’s been a palpable style change for d’Arenberg in recent years. More fruit vibrancy and less tannic heartiness. Still, the winemaking is deliberately hands-off with minimal racking, foot treading and no fining or filtration. An instantly ripe and chunky style, this feels dense and packs in many layers of fruit. For all the push towards boldness, however, the slightly tart style and general absence of new oak is a surprise. There’s no doubting the fruit concentration, but it feels just a little bit lighter and less expansive than previous vintages. More polish, less grunt. That said, a genuinely nice drink and I love the hints of bacon fat and smoke, still complete with that d’Arenberg tannin grip. Good. Best drinking: Definitely better in 2-3 years. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14.4%, $70. Would I buy it? Just a glass.

  • 92p

Dead Arm, d'Arenberg and McLaren Vale. Each integral to the other. Rich, a touch figgy, heady and a mix of dark black fruit that emanates from glass. 

Black fruits, sweeter accents on entry, tannin that resolves to something fine and yet gravelly. Black olive, hints of Mediterranean herb. It's a dark mix with elements of dark chocolate on the finish. A line of acidity gives excellent length. One for the trophy room! 93 

  • 93p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

McLaren Vale, South Australia

Other wines from this producer

Adelaide Hills Chardonnay Lucky Lizard

Chardonnay Adelaide Hills The Olive Grove

Chardonnay South Australia Barrel Fermented

Custodian Grenache

d'Arry's Original

Feral Fox Pinot Noir

McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon Copper Mine Road

McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon The High Trellis

McLaren Vale Grenache The Derelict Vineyard

McLaren Vale GSM Cadenzia

McLaren Vale Ironstone Pressings

McLaren Vale Roussanne The Money Spider

McLaren Vale Semillon The Noble

McLaren Vale Shiraz Old Vines

McLaren Vale Shiraz The Footbolt

McLaren Vale Shiraz Vintage Fortified

McLaren Vale Viognier The Last Ditch

Pollyanna Polly

Port Australia Vintage

Sauvignon Blanc The Broken Fishplate

Stephanie the Gnome with rose tinted Glasses

Sticks and Stones

The Anthropocene Epoch Mencia

The Cenosilicaphobic Cat

The Dead Arm Shiraz

The Dry Dam Riesling

The Galvo Garage McLaren Vale-Southern Fleurieu

The Galvo Garage Proprietary Red

‘The Hermit Crab’ McLaren Vale Viognier Marsanne

The Innocent Weed GSM

The Laughing Magpie

The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana

The Peppermint Paddock

The Stump Jump

The Stump Jump Sauvignon Blanc

The Twenty-Eight Road Mourvedre

The Witches Berry Chardonnay

Highlights

Latest news

WINERY NEWS Gramercy Cellars / Spring Release Wines for 2023! This is a release that everyone at Gramercy is honored to show.   more ...
WINE NEWS: Black Label NV (10's) / Champagne Lanson ditches Le Black Label Brut After db broke news of the planned move ea  more ...
WINE NEWS: Brut Premier NV (10's) / Louis Roederer Launches its Replacement for Brut Premier with Collection 242 NV Louis Roederer Re  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Finland could seek EU recognition as a wine-producing country by 2028 / Wine production in Finland is extremely small-scale.
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Tastingbook organized the world's largest tasting of the 1990s decade. / Over 250 best wines from 1990-1999 tasted 
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Hill of Grace – Celebrating 60 Years. / by Andrew Caillard MW
WINERY NEWS Henri Boillot / 2020 Vintage was a delight as both winegrower and winemaker. It is with great sadness and emotion  more ...
WINERY NEWS Catena Zapata / HARVEST REPORT - 2023 The 2023 wines will be among the most age worthy. After the October and Nov  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS BWW 2023 - The Best Wine of the World -Competition voting is over! / Almost 3 million votes have been cast for 17,721 wines from 543,000 wine professionals and wine enthusiasts
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS 100 BEST CHAMPAGNES 2023 / by Champagne Magazine
WINERY NEWS Château Lynch-Bages / Fabienne Verdier / The motion of matter - Exhibition at Château Lynch-Bages Until 31 October   more ...
WINERY NEWS Quinta do Noval / QUINTA DO NOVAL DECLARES 2021 VINTAGE PORT Christian Seely, Managing Director of Quinta do Noval,  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS BWW 2023 - The Best Wine of the World -competition has started! / The 1000 Most Voted Wines
WINERY NEWS Blankiet Estate / Wine Personality of the month!  Claude Blankiet / Proprietor of Blankiet Estate /Yountville,  more ...
WINERY NEWS Méo-Camuzet / The 2020 a very special vintage, which has been bottled, after a few logistical disorders (see   more ...
WINERY NEWS Château Lascombes / Ornellaia's Axel Heinz Will Become CEO of Château Lascombes Gaylon Lawrence and Carlton  more ...
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Château Cos d’Estournel vertical / by Izak Litwar
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS TASTINGBOOK “TASTED” AND RATED 100 TOP WINES FROM BORDEAUX 2022 VINTAGE! / The assessment has been made by the tastingbook's artificial intelligence.
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS Novidades in the Port world: / 50 year old Tawny and 50 year old White Port
TASTINGBOOK WINE NEWS CHAMPAGNE -HALL OF FAME 2022 / by Champagne Magazine and Tastingbook

Wine Moments

Here you can see wine moments from tastingbook users. or to see wine moments from your world.
Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register