I had an opportunity to taste several of d’Arenberg’s new releases last night…..

Holy Down Under Batman !!

2001 Last Ditch Viognier, 100% viognier. At under $20, this was very nice.
2001 Olive Grove Chardonnay. At under $15, a steal.
Sorry I do not have good notes for either of these, I was too anxious to get on to the reds. However, these well priced whites tasted like they should cost more….

2000 Ironstone Pressings: 70% Grenache, 25% Shiraz, 5% Mourvedre.
This is an incredible Aussie GSM with deep dark plum color. Blackberry, cherry, some dark chocolate with a spicey/liquorice finish. Strong tannins but not overpowering. Young and smooth right now. Can’t wait to see what it will be like over the next couple of years. 92-94 pts

2000 Coppermine Cab
2000 is supposedly the year for Aussie Cab. This one is stunning !!
Strong classic cab nose (unlike a lot of Aussie cab). Delicious berriers and cassis with hints of chocolate. Firm tannins help with a very structured and bold wine. I could not stop drinking this one. I would stand this up to many high-end Cal cabs. 94-96 pts

2000 Dead Arm Shiraz
I’ve died and gone to heaven…..This is made from 80-100 yr old vines.
This is a classic McLaren Vale Shiraz. Dense and chewy packed with dark rich berries with a blended richness throughout. The finish just keeps on going. Just truly outstanding. 94 – 96 pts

d’Arenberg makes their wine by foot–treading, which means the cap of skins on the fermenting juice are broken down by (wader-clad) feet. After the wine is vinified through a gentle Demoisy crusher and goes through open fermentation, it is basket pressed by 19th century presses.

All 3 of these reds are 20 year wines. The wonderful tastes were still in my mouth hours after the tasting. This was an incredible treat !

I bought a bunch of the '98 Dead Arm Shiraz and the Ironstone Pressings. The Dead arm for 98 has had many posts, and I for one am waiting until 2005 before opening another bottle. The IP, on the other hand was a delicious complex blend. Unfortunately, the last 3 bottles I have opened had turned. I think the corks were bad... they came out way to easily. I keep all m good stuff in a temperature and Humidity controlled wine cooler.

EDJ

JO,
Thanks for the notes. Looks like 2000/2001 will be banner years for those Down Under!!!

[ 10-25-2002, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: budman ]

Yep, I'm only hearing great things about both vinatges (especially 2001)........

Just wait, Dan Philips told me that 2002 wwill smoke '98 and '01!!!!!

JO,

Hate to rain on your parade but whoever told you that 2000 was "the year for Oz Cab" is smoking dope!

Firstly Oz is a big place, about as big as France, Germany and Italy and not to many people would say XX vintage was great through all of those countries.

I have tasted a heap of 2000 wines from all over Oz and loads from McLaren Vale (where d'Arrys comes from) and have to tell you that the 2000 vintage was one of the worst in many years.

Coonawarra and Margaret River are the two major top shelf Cab producing areas. Coonawarra produced some good Cab's in 2000 but absolutely nothing that could remotely be regarded as brilliant and Margaret River had a below average year although some of the wines are very good.

Glad you enjoyed the d'Arrys, they do make some excellent wines, its just their QPR in Oz is pretty ordinary. The Coppermine and Dead Arm sell for a recommended $65.

Cheers
Ric

The more I hear, the more I think little old UK is becoming a heaven for those who love high-end Australian reds.

This weekends prices, duty and taxes paid, delivered to my door:

D'Arenberg Coppermine Cab 1999: £17.33 ($26.94)

Lehmann Stonewell 1998: £25 ($38.86)

Noon Cab 2001: £35.64 ($55.40)

Almost makes up for our weather........

Ric, no parade to rain on and I've not heard anyone talk about "year for Oz Cab". I'm enjoying the Aussie reds I have from these vintages and continue to find more. As with any large area, any given year will produce great wines from selected areas. Just takes effort to find them....

Also, I have found it is usually cheaping to buy the high-end reds driect from Australia and pay the freight. It almost always comes in cheaper than prices in USA. In the case of the d'arenberg, it is at least 30% cheaper.

In any event, these three reds are absolutely OUTSTANDING !!..... IMHO

[ 10-27-2002, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: JO ]

Jan- I think you've posted this before, but are there some website of stores that ship to the colonies(California)?

Ron, there are several. If you use wine-searcher, just change the settings to Australia and run the searches. I have used 3-4 different retailers, all with no problems (Nick's, Auswine, JBrown).

TORB
You're a harsh man. Although 2000 won't go down as a top vintage, I tasted some very good wines at cellar door on my recent visit to South Australia. In any case, vintage variation here doesn't produce the kind of crap you can get from Europe in a bad vintage. Wines from 2000 that really impressed were Bowen Shiraz (Oliver gives it 18.3, more than 1998 or 1996), Majella Cab Sav (I think Oliver gave it 18.1), St. Hallets Faith (good QPR), and Greenock Creek shirazes.

Hi

Gavin Trott here, the Auswine mentioned above.

Please email me if you're at all interested in any Australian wines shipped to you from here in Australia, happy to help.

Aussie,

You are right, I am a harsh man.

Coonawarra faired better than Barossa or McLaren Vale. If you speak to many of the winemakers in these two areas they will confirm how difficult the vintage was and this is backed up by the number of wineries that will not produce their flagships in 2000, or if they did, in miniscule quantities. For a full report on about 170 I tasted try http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/tnotes/187.html />
Cheers
Ric

Wow TORB - extensive !!! I probably tasted as many wines on my recent trip, but took no where near as many notes, nor as comprehensive. Have to try harder next time.