Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-colored with a hint of purple, the 2011 The Dead Arm Shiraz has a quite youthful nose revealing intense cassis, plum and mulberry scents with hoisin sauce, Szechuan pepper and an earthy undercurrent
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Decanter
Old vines with ‘dead arm’, or Eutypa dieback which slowly kills vine wood, reducing yields, provide a double whammy of concentration. In a mild year, the 2011 retains Dead Arm’s intensity of flavour, bringing its innate savouriness to the fore. This is an elegant Shiraz with pronounced inky florals, earth, smoked meat and ironstone minerality to its persistent blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. A particularly translucent expression of terroir and vintage.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.