d’ARENBERG THE DEAD ARM SHIRAZ 2018

Gold Medal – New Zealand International Wine Show 2023

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 (2018 Vintage)
"Let’s get serious. Selected parcels of premium fruit from across over a century of d’Arenberg’s top vineyards are artfully blended to create this stunning Shiraz. More savoury than previous Dead Arms, the 2018 begins with dark fruits, damson 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 considered by many to be one of the top Shiraz in Australia."

97/100 Andrew Caillard, The Vintage Journal, December 2022 (2018 Vintage)
"Medium deep crimson. Classic blackberry, dark chocolate, peat-smoke aromas. Beautifully concentrated blackberry, dark chocolate, espresso flavours, underlying peaty / roasted chestnut notes and fine grainy / graphite tannins. Finishes cedar firm, long and minerally with ferruginous notes. Very expressive with lovely fruit density and vigour. A reference vintage. Drink now-2032."

96/100 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, November 2022 (2018 Vintage)
"Quite expressive and exotic, with red plums, blackberries and iodine, as well as dried herbs and nori, quite fragrant spices and currants. The palate has a sleek, dense and long feel, with impressive fruit intensity, delivered in such contained and impressively composed style. This has such length and intensity with a silky texture. Old vines underpin the style here. Drink over the next decade or more. Screw cap."

4 ½ Stars & Top 10 Cuisine Australian Shiraz Tasting, June 2024 (2018 Vintage)
"Dark and brooding, heady and plush with aromas of dark fruit, chocolate and oak present in good intensity on the nose. The palate is equally big and meaty with concentrated flavours and a deep, rich texture and sweet fruit flavours. The tannins are bold yet well integrated and serve to make this wine delectable and long."