M L
THE CURIOUS QUAFFER
A WORLD OF PURE IMAGINATION
Some of you may well be familiar with the d ’ Arenberg winery . Those of you who are not ……… you should be !
You will find this winery in the wonderful wine producing region that is McLaren Vale in South Australia . It is one of Australia ’ s oldest family owned , and most significant , wineries . It was established way back , in 1912 , by Joseph Osborn . Today it is run by Chester Osborn , the great grandson of the founder . Today it is the home of the stunning d ’ Arenberg Cube , a five-storey building that houses the d ' Arenberg Cube Restaurant , a wine tasting room , a virtual fermenter , a 360-degree video room and the Alternate Realities Museum , which features numerous art installations .
The winery produces a truly impressive range of wines that are distinctive in look , name and taste . The wineries trademark feature is that it uses the conventional basket pressing method while producing both red and white wines ( a traditional tool used to squeeze the juice out of grapes ). Currently it is the only winery in Australia to follow this method .
The d ’ Arenberg winery produces a vast , extensive , range of wines from an astonishing 37 different grape varieties . All their wines are easily identifiable by a distinctive red stripe across the label on the bottle . Whilst specialising in Rhône valley style wines , and with typical grapes like shiraz , it also experiments with other warmer climate grapes like Mencia , Aglianico and Negroamaro . The white wines are varietally expressive , with lovely aromas and bouquets . They are full flavoured , elegant and balanced , with bright , fresh acidity . Their reds are sophisticated , are full of fragrant fruit and mineral notes , with excellent palate texture and with long , lively , and youthful tannins .
But , perhaps most of all , one of the most fascinating aspects to a d ’ Arenberg bottle of wine is the name that appears on the label . The winery is well-known for the quirky , and amazingly imaginative , names given to its wines . To name but a few ( and the list goes on , and on , and on here ): the ‘ Broken Fishplate ’ Sauvignon Blanc ; the ‘ Galvo Garage ’; the ‘ Stump Jump ’ Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot ; the ‘ Laughing Magpie ’ Shiraz / Viognier ’; the ‘ Love Grass ’ Shiraz ; the ‘ Feral Fox ’ Pinot Noir ; the ‘ Blind Tiger ’ Shiraz ; the ‘ Anthropocene Epoch ’ Mencia . We even have the ‘ Cenosilicaphobic Cat ’ ( apparently named after a cat Chester Osborne had as a child , with a penchant for wine ). For those that don ’ t know , cenosilicphobia is the fear of an empty glass !
I have been buying d ’ Arenberg wines for some 35 years . I still have , in the cellar , many of their wines which are 20 years old or more . For my part it would be impossible to take you through all the winery ’ s great wines in this article … or even in any number of articles . The decision on which wines to pick , and talk about , is not easy . So , I will take you to what I think my go to d ’ Arenberg wines would be , judged by my purchases over the years .
The ‘ Dead Arm ’ Shiraz The ‘ Dead Arm ’ Shiraz is probably the wineries flagship wine . It is made from the shiraz grape that has been infected with fungus . Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata , that randomly affects vineyards all over the world . Often affected vines 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 ‘ Dead Arm ’ Shiraz is therefore , perhaps unsurprisingly , a very rich , structured , complex and full-bodied wine . It can be drunk young , but has the potential to bottle age for at least 20 years or more . Generally , you get red and dark fruits , chocolate and mocha , mixed in with savoury notes , some earthiness and a touch of spice . This is a great , delicious , wine which gets better and better with age . I am currently enjoying the 2003 , 2005 and 2006 vintages of this wonderful wine . They are all in a great spot now and are drinking beautifully . Generally speaking , this great wine will set you back around £ 36 a bottle ( it is generally available online and also , for those of you with a Costco card , the most recent release is currently on sale there ).
The ‘ Coppermine Road ’ Cabernet Sauvignon This wine is named after Coppermine Road , which runs parallel to the wineries very best Cabernet vineyard in McLaren Vale , just metres from the winery , cellar door and restaurant . The wine generally possesses everything you would expect to find from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape – blackcurrant and dark fruits , violets , cedar , cigar , herbs and a bit of spice , pepper and chocolate . It is a wine with great structure and depth and is a great example of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon .
Again , this is a wine that is enjoyable in its youth but will reach its full potential with bottle age of up to at least 20 years . The considerable structure and depth will ensure that the fruit characters will develop over time , leading to a wonderfully complex bottle of wine . I am currently still enjoying the 1998 , 2002 and 2003 vintages of this wine . The tannins in these lovely , aged , wines are fine and are complimented by a decent amount of acidity . Lovely wines which will also set you back around £ 36 a bottle .
‘ The Ironstone Pressing ’ GSM Most of McLaren Vale ' s acclaimed and historic vineyards are impregnated with ancient , decomposed laterite , granite known as ironstone . It is a
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