2001 d’Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm- Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (4/17/2011)
I’ll be honest, this wine surprised me, and in a good way. I had my last bottle around 2 years ago, and while the nose was complex on that wine, I just couldn’t get past a strong sensation of VA. This time around, the nose has developed even further, with all kinds of things of sniff and ponder, blackberry, cedar, camphor, Indian spices, all working in harmony and unison. The palate is what really surprised me, as I expected copious amounts fruit and oak, but was instead treated to a very serious and structured Shiraz full of power and grace. Tannins are still formidable, but at a decade old, enough complexity (and no discernable oak I might add) is in the glass to make this worthwhile to pull the cork. I think I’ll keep my last bottle another 5 years, it really might get interesting, who knows. (93 pts.)
I remember tasting this when it was first released and being very impressed - it was really a “wow” wine, regardless of your preferences. My tastes have changed considerably since then, and having tried it more recently, I wasn’t convinced that it had really gotten better, though your experience seems to suggest some bottle variation. I’m probably a lot more sensitive to oak than you are, and I find quite a lot of it on most Australian wines these days, young or old.
Lew, not meaning to rain on Dale’s parade here, but I’ll stand by my statement. I was drinking and collecting Australian wines from the early 90s, through early 2000s, and I watched the proliferation of bigger, riper, oakier wines over those years as Parker and Steinman rewarded them with higher and higher scores. Dozens and dozens of huge, monster wines came on the market, the vast majority with that signature road tar density from ripeness and oak. Dead Arm itself went through some of that transition, having been drinking that wine from before Parker got his hands on it, through the Aussie craze of the late 90s and early 2000s. There are exceptions, and still many good wines, mainly (in my opinion) the classics that had a track record well before Parker descended on the area, and stuck with their style.
Cheers