d'Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz

Notes - The name for this wine is often joked about. Some thought the wine to be so big and heavy that your arm hardly worked after consuming a reasonable amount! 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 display amazing intensity.A very dark almost black appearance with a dense purple-red hue. The aroma upon opening is very intense with a complex combination of fragrant spices, red fruits, plum dark cherries, cranberry and blueberry notes with a back drop of very fine oaks, liquorice, white pepper, boot-polish and edges of parsley stalks. The taste is rich, gutsy and virile, dominated with red fruits, cherries, plums and dried black olive. The palate is very controlled, tight and has a wonderful liveliness about it. Even the tannins feel cool and silky with mineral grittiness and wonderful acidity. The length is excellent and beautifully pointed with soft red fruit flavours and spice suggests this wine will have great ability to age. The Cellaring Potential - This wine will be relatively closed and backward in style if not allowed some opportunity to develop in the bottle. After time in bottle, ‘The Dead Arm’ gains a biscuity, cinnamon, chocolate, earthy, eucalyptus-based bouquet on top of rich blackberry pie smells. Tobacco, mushroom, malt and earth aromas play a part on the long, fleshy, chocolate mint and spice flavours. This wine will develop with a great balance of tannins, acidity and fruit. "‘d'Arenberg’s most famous wine is its flagship, The Dead Arm Shiraz. The 2005 The Dead Arm Shiraz is sourced from ancient hand-pruned vines. It was aged for 22 months in a mix of new and used French and American oak. It is opaque purple/black with an expansive perfume of toast, smoke, spice box, mineral, pencil lead, tar, licorice, blueberry, and blackberry. Full-bodied, opulent, and superconcentrated, this structured, lengthy wine will benefit from 3-5 years of cellaring and drink well through 2025". 95 Points, Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, October 2007.
 
     

Enter your e-mail address and click the button to opt into the Fareham Wine Cellar mailing list: