d’ARENBERG THE DEAD ARM SHIRAZ 2017

Trophy for Wine of the Year & 97/100 – London Wine Competition 2020
Gold Medal – London Wine Competition 2020
5 Stars & 95/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review

d'Arenberg's Dead Arm Shiraz is such a satisfying good Aussie Shiraz. Luckily for buyers, d'Arenberg haven't gone down the track of producing a 'super label – read expensive' and this is from their best parcels of fruit. This is another seriously good vintage release.

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.

Winery notes (2017 Vintage)
"This wine will have you second guessing as it skips between red fruits and lifted spice notes on the one hand to more brooding, dark, ashen, earthy aromas on the other. A sign of the vintage no doubt. The seasonal conditions are even more evident on the palate where flavour, tannin and acid are in perfect balance. There is an impressive amount of concentration in this wine but at the same time it feels somewhat more restrained compared to other more in your face, rustic Dead Arm vintages. Particularly when we look at the tannin profile which is a relatively fine example for this wine. The benefit of all of this of course is that it is immediately drinkable upon release. Don’t be fooled by its approachability however, The Dead Arm Shiraz 2017 also shows all the hall marks of a classic McLaren Vale Shiraz that will see it age gracefully for 15 plus years."

94/100 James Suckling (2017 Vintage)
"This is a very composed and nicely layered rendition of this top-end shiraz with aromas of cocoa, dark plums, blackberries, cinnamon, licorice and dark cherries. The palate has a very impressive build of ripe dark-fruit and chocolate flavors. Layered and expansive, it swells impressively through the finish. Smoothly resolved and gently spicy. Drink or hold."

92+/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2017 Vintage)
"Locked up tight and ungiving on the nose, d'Arenberg's 2017 The Dead Arm Shiraz is nonetheless formidably dense and concentrated on the palate. Notes of charred wood join plums, raspberries and black olives in this full-bodied effort. With its current surly disposition, it appears to require decanting or several years' sleep in a cool cellar. Giving it air helped bring out purple raspberries and softened the considerable tannins, so I'm optimistic about its future evolution."