A True, Traditional Original from South Australia - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Wine of the Week

A True, Traditional Original from South Australia

adapted from Joshua Greene • January 20, 2020

Chester and d’Arry Osborn in front of the d’Arenberg Cube winery

D’Arry’s Original is one of the most consistent and consistently satisfying reds grown in South Australia. D’Arry Osborn, Chester’s father, developed it in the 1950s, having joined the family business in 1943 at the age of 16. It was a time when most McLaren Vale vineyards were devoted to grenache and shiraz for fortified wines. In 1959, d’Arry released his first d’Arenberg Burgundy, with the red stripe on the label, the blend of grenache and shiraz that would become d’Arry’s Original in 1993. Chester makes it as his father did, in small open-top fermenters with headed-down boards to keep the cap of grape skins submerged. It’s foot trod, basket pressed and aged in a mix of French oak barrels, emerging, with a few years of bottle age, as a cool, floral, zesty blend with crunchy heirloom-apple acidity and funky, meaty edges to the tannins. A firm and juicy red you could drink now or ten years from now.

Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA

91

d’Arenberg 2016 McLaren Vale d’Arry’s Original (Best Buy)

$20

Where To Buy

Every week, our editors highlight a wine that intrigued them in our blind panel tastings, expanding on their tasting note in this space. These are entirely editorial choices; there are no paid placements. Subscribers can also access the original tasting note by searching here.

Joshua Greene

Joshua Greene is the editor and publisher of Wine & Spirits magazine.

This story appears in the print issue of jan 2019.
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TAGS Grenache

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