McLaren Vale

Dark fruit and savoury characters leap from the glass, in particular there is liquorice and blackberry, laced with a hint of char. Complexity in the shape of iodine and soil like notes follow. The wine is powerful and structured. There is a plethora of sweet fruit character, plums and mulberries, but not a hint of fatness. Rather the wine is quite compact and focused. A powerful yet refined expres…

A concentrated wine with great depth and complexity by any standard. Oozing purple fruits, plums, blackcurrant and mulberry with just a hint of wild raspberry. These sweet fruits are countered by a raft of savoury notes, ranging from soil and meat through to cedar and nutmeg. The tannins are precisely sculpted, reminiscent of finely crushed china.

On the nose we are struck by the typical dark fruits that drinkers of this wine have come to love and expect. Plums, mulberries, fresh soil and more developed peaty like notes are all apparent, with an underlying lick of exotic Indian spice. But, it is the irony, stone like character that gives away the vintage. An abundance of fresh fruits on the palate marry well with the more complex characters…

The wine has an enticing mix of primary fruit characters entwined with the first hints of moreish secondary nuances. There is an enormous concentration of blackberry and blackcurrant on the nose and palate, a whiff of flowers, ginger and stone fruit that we can attribute to the Viognier and depth is built through more savoury notes of fennel, fresh leather and cedar.

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.

This wine displays a level of finesse and freshness that we don�t always encounter in other vintages of the same wine. In a somewhat surprising contrast to this, the wine also displays a dense and varied array of fruit characters, from bright lifted purple plums and rhubarb through to more spice and herbal notes such as sage and cardamom, into even more complex earthy flavours of beetroot and soot…

The nose is full of vibrant fresh fruit including plum, raspberry, currant and cranberry with varietal spice and a lovely violet overtone providing a delicate touch. The elegant palate adds rhubarb to the fruit spectrum with a very attractive pink muck nuance emerging on the mid palate with a second layer of earth and dried herbs providing a savoury kick. The lively acidity is linear and focused a…

Rich, generous palate with plush sweet fruit, combined with aromas of cedar, aniseed and clove spice. Full and juicy with plums and dark cherries, a touch of oak adds a cedary complexity leading to a long lingering fruit finish.