D Arenberg Wines

Lovely aromatic wine, fully ripened with vibrant natural acidity, and loaded with notes of frangipani and citrus The palate also displays white floral notes, combining nicely with ruby grapefruit and fresh lime character

d'Arenberg planted Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne in the mid 1990's, and the first crop of Roussanne from the 2000 vintage was covered in a sea of tiny "Money Spiders" (Erigoninae) Popular belief is that kindness to these little creatures will bring good luck, hopefully in the form of money Being a nature-lover and slightly superstitious, Chester refrained from sending the spiders to their death Hence the first release of Roussanne was from the 2001 vintage, by which time the Money Spiders had learned their lesson and moved from the vineyard to the surrounding bushland The nose exhibits a whole array of characters from stone fruits and tropical notes through to nuttiness and an ever so delicate hint of Indian spice The palate is robust! A luscious mix of pulpy fruit, green mango and papaya These full flavours gently give way to honey blossom nuances and savoury pistachio notes which linger to a very long finish, adding refinement to the palate

The heady aroma is both powerful and pretty with notes of fennel, purple flowers and blossom mingling with ripe, varietal purple fruits and black pepper The oak is hardly evident which allows fruit and soil complexities to emerge with edges of rhubarb and red mulberry and savoury characters of dried herbs, game and spice The palate opens with anise, black pepper, graphite and restrained dark cherries before it gives way to seductive mulberry, plum, liquorice and spice It has great power, depth and length with very vibrant, gritty fruit tannins providing immense structure Notes of anise and spice linger for a long time after the last sip The Dead Arm 2008 strikes a rare balance of power, complexity and finesse with impressive structure that will reward those with patience to cellar it

Very aromatic to start, lifted citrus blossom mix with white peaches and nectarines Fresh and zesty on the palate, the oak lends support and gives a lovely creamy mouthfeel with texture and spice

It is rumoured that the inventor of the Stump Jump plough, which enabled a ploughshare to 'jump' over tree roots (or stumps), had poor eyesight and required regular tests to ensure he could still operate machinery The design of this label is inspired by an optometrist's eyechart and serves as a makeshift sobriety test If you can hold the bottle at arm's length and still read the front label, you can enjoy another glass The nose is chock-full of fresh blackberries, cherries and dark chocolate sprinkled with spices The palate is fresh and juicy, ripe red fruits mix with plums, blackcurrant, flowers and a twist of black pepper The tannins are fine with d'Arenberg's trademark earthiness helping keep this easy going wine in check

Deservedly one of the world's iconic wines, the intense, concentrated The Dead Arm makes no pretence of being anything other than what it is: powerful, old-school, rugged unfined, unfiltered McLaren Vale Shiraz, without airs and graces If you want any semblance of refinement, you'll have to wait for it, which is why it's so welcome that the Osborn family has held back some stock for this Cellar Release At nearly a decade old, it still has gloriously intense fruit, however its earthy tannins of youth have matured into a firm, yet warm, embrace Packed with so much flavour, you can savour a sip of this for minutes, making it brilliantly great value!

D'Arenberg's finest Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in McLaren Vale lies next to Coppermine Road, metres from the winery It is almost unfeasibly low-yielding, and yet pays its way through the extraordinarily concentrated and complex wine that it produces Stratified upon the intense, blackcurrant, tomato leaf, red pepper and sage character of the young wine are layers of marvellous maturity, soothing roundness and nuanced spiciness This is undoubtedly ready to drink, however it tastes as though it still has 1-2 decades of life ahead of it Magnificent

The Derelict Vineyard Grenache is always one of d'Arenberg's most distinctive wines Named for a field discovered by Chester Osborn that had been untended for two decades or more, and yet its old Grenache vines had survived Even young vintages have what the French might call 'beaute sauvage' - glorious, complex notes of wild berries, pepper, foraged mushrooms, gravel and iron In this Cellar Release, these attributes are intensified and extended with the nuances of maturity Furthermore, this particular wine's tendency towards untamed tannins has been mellowed with age, bringing about a totally irresistible, velvety succulence Utterly awesome

This is not soft, squashy strawberry Starburst Grenache This is real Grenache Serious Grenache Grenache with an attitude It has the most phenomenally complex aroma of wild berries, pepper, mushroom, gravel and iron Depth, intensity and generous structure Wild strawberries and peppery spice dance amid earthy undertones and brooding tannins Decant to really show its true potential, then savour it slowly Drink now or over the next ten years Superb!

This is a great, honest, earthy Australian red made by the Osborn family from Langhorne Creek fruit The aromas evoke strawberries and dusty blackcurrants over red earth, baking under a blazing Aussie sun There are hints of eucalyptus, mint and Italian Amaro A cracking wine, and great value

Bright, fresh and light in alcohol, the Old Bean Truck white has guava, passionfruit and pineapple aromas and a slight waxy note It has sherbet-like tingly acidity, with toffee apple and melon flavours A straightforward, pleasurable wine, this is a McLaren Vale field blend mainly of Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, made by the Osborn family

"This is a wine of great presence, loaded with classic Cabernet Sauvignon characters of cassis, plums, cedar, red pepper and violets Despite the depth and complexity of the fruit, the palate remains true to Cabernet form, providing a sleek mouthfeel framed by a long line of fine, chalky tannins Powerful, aromatic, persistent and charming all at once While this wine offers enough fruit to be enjoyed in youth, expect five to eight further years of careful cellaring to enhance its overall quality and enjoyment "

Beautiful perfume with blackberry, blueberry and middle eastern saffron spice on the nose Dusty, earthy aromas give way to layers of aniseed and black olive The palate beautifully follows the nose; mouth filling, generous, and not overtly sweet One to cellar for many moons From the first declared vintage in 1928, d'Arenberg fortified wines have been Shiraz based, and the vines that produced the original vintage still provide the grapes for this wine These old vines are stumpy, gnarled and deep rooted, distinguished by their small bunches of highly coloured and intensely flavoured grapes

The nose is packed with enticing fresh red fruit characters of raspberry, cherry, and pomegranate Hints of blackberry and Kalamata olive come through over time, erupting in a long and lingering palate A fine line of acid, reminiscent of tangy rhubarb, is supported by lively tannins

Superbly indulgent, wonderfully rich and complex A nose strongly reminiscent of dried apricots is the very start of a vinous journey full of excesses The palate is equally dominated by these exorbitant apricot notes but of equal importance are the complexing flavours of ginger bread, tinned pineapple, honey, cinnamon and cumquat The weight of the wine is unrivalled but the whole package is neatly dragged back into check by the crisp acid backbone ensuring the bottle, once opened is unlikely to see out the evening