d'Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz 2009

Professional Ratings

• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2009 The Dead Arm Shiraz presents an intense and complex nose of blackberry preserves and dried mulberries over coffee, black olives, smoky bacon and humus. The palate is richly fruited and nicely balanced with layers of savory and dark berry flavors and crisp acid textured by medium-firm finely grained tannins. It finishes long with hints of menthol and marmite toast coming through. It should be drinking best 2013 to 2024+.
• 92 Wine & Spirits
  Named for the eutypa fungus that kills off one side of a bush vine, leaving the fruit on the other side that much more concentrated, The Dead Arm is d'Arenberg's top selection from their old-vine shiraz. The 2009 is dense but not jammy, the rich black cherry juiciness lifted by tannins that fall somewhere between silk and satin. There's a generosity to the wine that’s tied as much to its earthiness as to its fruit. Appealing now with lamb, this will gain from several years in the cellar.