d'Arenberg d'Arry's Original Shiraz/Grenache 2003
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For the first 50 years, the Osborn family grew grapes and from 1928, sold wine in bulk, some of which made its way back to the United Kingdom for consumption. It was not until 1958 that the first wine was made and sold in bottles bearing the distinctive diagonal red stripe and the d'Arenberg name. The 1967 d'Arenberg Burgundy won 7 Trophies and 25 Gold Medals in a show record which at the time was unsurpassed.
d'Arry's Original is very much a traditional style of wine, being rich, lucious and opulently soft and very much an expression of terroir and variety which ages spectacularly. The final blend varies from year to year in an effort to maintain the well-established hallmarks of d'Arry's Original.
Gentle handling through the winery includes crushing through the Demoisy crusher, open fermentation with the traditional heading down boards and foot treading followed by basket pressing through the 19th century ‘Coq' and ‘Bromley & Tregoning' basket presses and then into almost 18 months barrel maturation in old French and American oak.
In its youth d'Arry's Original display a bright magenta like brick red colour. The nose invariably attacks with lifted spicy cinnamon plum, mulberry & prune aromas. Typically cherry, wild strawberry & lolly-like musk smells also, as well as tighter liquorice, spice, rosemary & fennel smells.
Hints of coffee & caramel on the nose are usually quite evident on the palate; a backdrop for cherry-raspberry & richer mulberry-blackberry primary fruit. The palate is typically d'Arenberg & McLaren Vale, soft & rich in the middle, rolling on to a soft but slightly piquant acid/tannin finish.
Coffee, mocha, chocolate & leather emerge as dominant older fruit aromas flavours alongside gamey, earthy, cedar like & minty smells. The classic hallmark of peppery-spicy character develops & the velvety texture remains. Occasionally, dried sour cherry aromas & ever so slightly bitter blackberry tannin on the palate develop, increasing the wine's food applicability.
Well cellared, d'Arry's Original becomes, soft, generous, full flavoured, velvety long & seamless in bottle, with no particular component standing out, as more than four decades of previous vintages have shown.
Serve at room temperature 16 – 24 ºC. now or over the next 3 – 20 years with grilled or barbecued meats, potato based dishes, dishes with noodles, rice pasta, cous cous, served with beef, veal or lamb. Roast meats and mature cheese.
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d'Arenberg is one of the undisputed kings of Australian Shiraz and other Rhone varieties that have historically defined the region. A century on, their vineyards have grown to some 450 acres in McLaren Vale, including Shiraz dating back to d'Arenberg's first plantings in 1912, and nearly one-third of McLaren Vale's old bush-vine Grenache. Fourth generation winemaker, Chester Osborn, recently converted all of the family's vineyards to organics and biodynamics and moved to solar energy in the winery. All the while, in terms of winemaking, not much has changed--all the wines are basket-pressed, the reds foot-trodden during fermentation; everything is done in small batches, leading to an impressive array of bottlings every year, each showing a different facet of McLaren Vale terroir. Having been inducted into Wine & Spirits Magazine's Hall of Fame for earning a place on its Top 100 Wineries nine times, this accolade is a reflection of d'Arenberg's revered reputation worldwide.