D’arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz

The name: dead arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus eutypa lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half or an ‘arm’ of the vine slowly becomes reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle but the grapes on the other side while low yielding display amazing intensity. The vintage: good winter rains ensured adequate sub-soil moisture and set vines up well with healthy canopies. There was unseasonably hot weather during flowering but this did not affect fruit setting to any significant extent and vigour was beautifully balanced. There was some more heat early in the season but with berries only just forming in most cases it was not an issue. The rest of the season was mild with nights mild to cool with very little rain. It was another early start to vintage and both red and whites from 2010 have strong varietal characters and good balance. The winemaking: small batches of grapes are