News

This year the winery will celebrate its centenary and last night we got the festivities off to a great start with a huge party for over 230 of our friends and family. Chester and d’Arry shared their memories of winemaking across the decades over a four course meal prepared by the talented team from d’Arry’s Verandah Restaurant.

To celebrate International Grenache Day we will be hosting the inaugural Duck, Duck, Grenache Walk on Friday September 23. This is an invite only event, but we are giving two lucky people the opportunity to join us. 

We cannot reveal too many details of the event, only to say that it will start at 1:30pm and take up most of the afternoon. As the name suggests it involves a lot of Duck and a lot of Grenache. 

If you are able to get yourself to Adelaide on Friday September 23 and like us on Facebook, are a Twitter follower or are on our mailing list, you are eligible. To enter you need to send us a photo of yourself with a bottle of d'Arenberg Grenache. 

The one that makes us smile the most will win and anything duck inspired will get extra credit. Post the photo on Facebook, on Twitter ( @darenberg ) or e-mail winery@darenberg.com.au.

Entries close September 9 at 5pm.

In what is hopefully a good omen for The Wallabies 2011 World Cup bid, d'Arenberg has crossed the ditch and come home with gold. In its most succesful entry in the NZ International Wine Show, d'Arenberg was awarded with a staggering eight gold medals at the 2011 show. The winning wines are:

The Noble Mud Pie 2010
The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana 2010
The Noble Prankster 2010
The Dry Dam Riesling 2008
The Cadenzia GSM 2009
The Custodian Grenache 2008
The Galvo Garage Cabernet blend 2009
The Sticks and Stones Tempranillo blend 2008

There was average rainfall in winter and above average rainfall in Spring which has ensured adequate sub-soil moisture and healthy canopies.

Very mild day time temperatures and cool nights during the summer months ensured a very late start to vintage. The first fruit was picked on February 23 - only two days prior to the latest start on record at d’Arenberg. Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc were the first varieties picked and show excellent acidity and flavour development. The disease pressure has been high with more rain than would be considered ideal, luckily little disease has resulted.

The turgidity of the berries is good and yields are normal. If these stable conditions continue Chester expects vintage to finish as late as May with Petit Verdot typically the last variety to ripen.

As at March 11
A cool weekend was followed with some early week rain. Between 12 and 25mm (depending on exact location in McLaren Vale) fell in the space of 24 hours on Tuesday. Fortunately there was no major damage reported as a result. Berry sizes did increase as a result, but luckily the grape skins are thick and the berries have a lot of flavour.

The cool weather and cold night conditions continued for most of the week yet most grapes continued to slowly ripen. The first of the Viognier was picked and we have finally seen some red grapes in with the first parcels of Shiraz being crushed. The red have lots of character and great acidity. Some Shiraz Viognier ferments have begun and we expect to pick a lot more Shiraz next week.

As at 18 March 2011

As expected there were a number of Shiraz blocks picked this week following a string of sunny days, some of these blocks included Dead Arm material. Temperatures in the low to mid twenties all week were perfect conditions for ripening and has allowed for steady ripening and picking. The whites keep rolling in with McLaren Vale Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay nearly all completed. Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne were all picked last week with Shiraz/Roussanne ferments under way.

In a addition to Shiraz other red varieties picked included a dribble of Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Sagrantino. Chester has been tasting fruit in the cooler Adelaide Hills region and expects picking to commence in two weeks time.

In the winery the old wooden basket presses were dusted off and used for the first time this year, much to the delight of the basket press team who have great affection for them.

As at 25 March 2011

After a mild, yet sunny weekend it rained consistently this week from Monday to Thursday. There was a huge difference in rainfall across the region with some areas only receiving a few mm, while others received up to 14.8mm. Luckily this was considerable less than other wine regions and it was not heavy downpours, rather steady drizzle.

The greatest concern is the onset of Botrytis cinerea, which thrives on wet and humid conditions. It is too early to tell whether this will cause any dramatic outbreaks. There was very little fruit picked this week with little ripening happening because of the lack of sunshine and warmth. Grapegrowers and winemakers alike have their fingers crossed for consecutive dry days with sunshine.

As at 1 April 2011
After the rain of last week, consistent sunny days in the mid twenties was a welcome relief. Disease pressure remains high, but the grapes are back in ripening mode and fruit has started rolling across the weigh bridge again.

Botrytis has been spotted in some vineyards, mainly in the areas that received the most rainfall. These vineyards will be hand-picked to ensure that only the best bunches make their way to the winery. Over all our vineyards have dealt with the high disease pressure well. The minimal input viticulture techniques we use with the complete absence of fertiliser mean that the grape skins are thicker than normal, which helps fight the onset of botrytis.
Flavours in the vineyard are good and we are generally picking most blocks at lower sugar levels with good flavour and great natural acidity. The winery is starting to fill up now and all staff are on deck with all basket presses in action and multiple foot treads daily.

See our Facebook photo diary here.

US publication Wine & Spirits has named d’Arenberg as one of its ‘Top 5 Australian Value Brands’ alongside its Australian First Families of Wine (AFFW) stable mates Yalumba and Taylors (known internationally as Wakefield).

It tops off a successful week for the 99 year old family owned winery based in McLaren Vale. Gold medals were also awarded at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and Decanter World Wine Awards this week.

The value award from Wine & Spirits acknowledgeswines in the highly competitive bracket of sub $15 per bottle. The eight wines in The Stump Jump range fit comfortably in this price range with other value products such as The Hermit Crab Viognier Marsanne and The Dry Dam Riesling also scraping in. The results were based on a series of blind tastings conducted by the magazine’s team over 12 months with approximately 3,000 bottles sampled.

Fourth generation winemaker Chester Osborn said it was pleasing to see his wines alongside the other AFFW members being recognized at both ends of the spectrum.

“These value wines are often the first introduction people have to a winery and it is essential that they are wines of character and style.” He said. “We tend to focus on the rare premium wines with AFFW, but this proves that family owned wineries can deliver great wines at all price points.”

“Pride in your craft doesn’t disintegrate just because a wine sells for less than $18 a bottle. If it has the d’Arenberg name on it, I made sure it says something about our style of winemaking and I am proud of it.”

The Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier 2009 won the gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2011 and The Dead Arm Shiraz 2007 picked up the gold medal at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.

d’Arenberg, has taken out the 2010 Top Winery of the Year award from the world’s leading online retailer - Wine.com.

This accolade comes on the back of d’Arenberg’s The Stump Jump Shiraz being named as 2010 Wine of the Year (awarded to the most purchased wine) on the same site. It’s a mammoth feat  with competition from wineries all over the world.

Wine.com started its life as evineyard.com at the birth of the dot.com era. It’s managed to survive where many have perished to become the most significant online retailer in the USA.

Chester said it was a great acknowledgement as it comes directly from the consumer.

“It’s great to see that Wine.com customers have such discerning taste,” he said. “The customers themselves have essentially voted with their own hard earned cash, so in many ways it is as legitimate an award as there is.”

Chester said the Top Winery of the Year comes on the back of a strong performance across the portfolio with the website selling a variety of labels, from The Stump Jump range to the iconic The Dead Arm Shiraz.

“Our winemaking philosophies and techniques apply to all of our wines, and we are equally proud of them,” he said. “We have very minimal inputs in the vineyard with no fertilization, minimal or no irrigation and no cultivation of the soil.”

“This ensures the root systems of the vines are very strong and penetrate deeper and wider in the soil, which imparts more soil characters into the wine. In the winery we only use open fermenters for reds with foot treading and use basket presses exclusively.”

The results of the McLaren Vale Wine Show were announced this week and d’Arenberg didn't go home empty handed, winning:

Trophy for Most Successful Exhibitor

Trophy for Best McLaren Vale Pre-release Wine with The Ironstone Pressings GSM 2009

Gold medals for:
The Ironstone Pressings GSM 2009 (pre-release)
The Derelict Vineyard Grenache 2009 (pre-release)
The Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier 2009 (pre-release)

As well as these d'Arenberg also collected three silver medals and 11 bronze medals.

The latest volume of influential Japanese manga comic Les Gouttes de Dieu (Drop of the Gods) has featured its first Australian wine in d’Arenberg’s The Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier 2006, causing an influx of orders. 

The cartoon is a best seller in Japan and Korea and has been a revelation in wine communication with translations into multiple Asian languages as well as French. It follows the story of Kanzaki Shizuku, the son of a recently deceased wine critic who has placed conditions on the inheritance of his significant cellar. 
Shizuku must compete with Toomie Issei, an adopted son of his late father and young wine critic in finding specific wines that his father described as “The 12 Apostles”.

The story picks up with the main character Shizuku (who works for a Japanese Importer) in Australia searching for three wines when they come across The Laughing Magpie 2006. Impressed with the trophies, they are even more surprised to find a wine so good under screwcap with Shizuku saying “I didn't expect much from a wine under screwcap,” before describing it as “spicy and overflowing with energetic life. It's both exotic and made for normal people at the same time,” and deciding to stock it in his shop.