Upon release, d’Arenberg’s Vintage Fortified Shiraz, traditionally just known as “Vintage Port", has a consistent deep, intense purple almost black colour matched by just as intense aromas of ripe, spicy shiraz fruit, combined with a lifted (and slightly ‘taily’) brandy spirit. Spicy blackberry, mulberry, plum and blackcurrant fruit smells are also evident on the structured young palate.
The initial attack of primary shiraz fruit flavours combined with the light brandy spirit ensure the palate is rich, intense and full flavoured, especially in the middle, all before a rich, drying astringency from the fruit tannins leaving no lingering sweetness on the finish. With significant bottle age, d’Arenberg’s Vintage Fortified Shiraz gains extraordinary complexity. The intense young colour become a lighter more ruby red initially then quite amber.
Fruit and brandy spirit integrate making way for chocolate, coffee, walnut even hints of liquorice and anise smells. On the mature palate, sweet full and rich fig, chocolate, malt, coffee, leather and tobacco like flavours dominate initially before spicy, tea-like soft tannin dryness and rolling hazelnut and juicy butterscotch length. d’Arenberg’s Vintage Fortified Shiraz can often live in bottle for quite extraordinary periods. Indeed, at d’Arenberg we still have some bottles of our 1928 ‘Vintage Port’ left in our museum cellar. At this age another quite different range of characters is present in the wine, whiffs of rosehip, mushrooms, orange peel, estery sweet lemon and singed vanilla bean are some, but in the main these extremely old wines become quite soft vanilla dominated on the nose and brandyesque on the palate.
Expertise
region: McLaren Vale
acid: 5,75 g/Liter
Alcohol: 18 %
wine variety: 100% Shiraz
residual sugar: 102,8g/Liter
recommended temperature: Serve at room temperature decanted 16 24C. now or cellar for the next 3-30 years
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vintage: 2007
type of closure: Cork
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