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Available by the dozen
McLaren Vale was planted to Grenache long ago, when pioneers established plots of vine on their homestead farms. Grenache became rather unfashionable towards the middle of the twentieth century, Chester Osborn had the vision to acquire many of these overgrown and abandoned bush vineyards. To the layman's eye, they still look like derelict old sites, but they yield precious harvests of the most outstanding fruit. A concentrated wine with depth and complexity, oozing lozenges of winegum and prettily perfumed purple fruits. There are no secrets at d'Arenberg, each grape must be the finest that McLaren Vale can produce and all wines are made by hand, to the most exacting standards under the meticulous scrutiny of Chester Osborn. The aim is to make the most generously proportioned, brilliantly balanced wines, supported by sound structure and just the right amount of oak. Small batches are gently crushed and fermented, basket pressed and filled to a selection of well seasoned French and American barriques for completion, aged on lees, assembled and finished without fining or filtration.
TASTING NOTESBright garnet red. Vigorous Grenache perfumes, plums and blueberry, raspberries, an undercurrent of earthyness and game. Full bodied palate, generous over chalky tannins, succulent acidity, lively and mouthwatering, refinement after a term of bottle age, smoothing edges whilst maintaining youthful appeal. The oak is totally integrated and allows the fruit characters to star, will go perfectly with juicy steak or gourmandise game. |
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The heart of McLaren Vale, past and present, d’Arenberg is one of the most significant wineries in Australia
In 1912 Joseph Osborn, a teetotaller and director of Thomas Hardy and Sons, purchased the well established Milton Vineyards of 25 hectares in the hills just north of the townships of Gloucester and Bellevue, now known as McLaren Vale. Joseph’s son Francis Ernest (‘Frank’) Osborn left medical school, choosing to forsake the scalpel for pruning shears. He soon increased the size of the vineyard to 78 hectares. Fruit was sold to local wineries until the construction of his own cellars was completed in 1928. Dry red table and fortified wines were produced in ever increasing quantities to supply the expanding markets of Europe. dArenberg»
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