2006 d'Arry's Original

© Malcolm McGookin

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Harvest Dates:
March 7 to April 26
Oak Maturation:
12mths or more in new and older American and French oak barriques including large casks.
Alcohol by Vol:
14.5%
Titratable Acid:
6.8 g/L
pH:
3.41
Bottling Date:
18 to 25 February 2008
Chief Winemaker
Chester d’Arenberg Osborn
Senior Winemaker
Jack Walton

Other Vintages

‘Perhaps the greatest wine in d'Arry's portfolio, his Original shiraz grenache is always consistent. Spice, plumy shiraz fruit and riper redcurrant grenache combine with firm but well judged tannins and savoury leathery flavours too. I've never had a bad bottle and the 2005 vintage continues this tradition.’

This wine is named in honour of d’Arenberg principal, d’Arry Osborn, who is a Winemakers Federation of Australia Patron and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia. The d’Arry’s Original blend of Shiraz and Grenache was first launched in 1959 named d’Arenberg Burgundy and changed names in the early 1990’s .

The nose is lifted with floral tones of violet and a touch of lavender noticeable first with a background of cooked meat and spicy red fruits tied together with an enticing earthiness.

The palate has a velvety mouth feel and fantastic balance with raspberry, boysenberry, plum and prune building to a back palate of spices and a touch of pepper. The silky tannins and a subtle cinnamon character provide for a long refined finish.

The balance of fruit, lively acidity and tannin is the hallmark of this wine and with careful cellaring it will drink well over the next decade, but is already a delightfully slippery drink.

Shiraz and Grenache from 2006 are generously fragrant and show expressive fruit characteristics with good acidity and length.

Average winter and heavy spring rains resulted in healthy and balanced canopies.

A mild start to the summer followed by a warm period during veraison stopped vegetative growth and allowed the vine to channel energy into the fruit. Cool conditions and a little rain in February allowed flavour to develop in line with sugar and acidity.

Warm weather returned in March which helped ripen the Grenache. Picking from multiple vineyards throughout the region was staggered over a six week period.

Walking the vineyard rows and tasting grapes, Chester Osborn classifies each vineyard and determines the ideal picking time.

Individual batches are crushed in the Demoisy open-mouthed, rubber toothed crusher and then transferred to five tonne headed-down open fermenters. These batches remain separate until final blending.

A tiny portion of shiraz underwent carbonic maceration which enhances lifted spicy characters.

Foot treading is undertaken near the end of fermentation followed by gentle basket pressing. The wine is then transferred to a mixture of new and old French and American oak to complete primary and secondary fermentation.

The extensive blending process takes place over several days before the final blend is transferred to large wooden casks to completely integrate before bottling.

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