No.
No, I can’t see the joy in this Dead Arm. Conceptually, it’s easy to appreciate the appeal of a handpicked, basket-pressed, foot trodden, super-premium McLaren Vale Shiraz in this mode. It’s plush, thick grained and very ripe too, a whole ball of inky density.
But the longer I looked, the uglier it seemed. After that early fruit hit the palate starts looking baked, the tannins desiccated, the alcohol warm. It’s a wine pushing hard for power, plushness, impact, yet ultimately delivering a wine that is an attack rather than an enjoyable drink. The score ends up in ‘bronze’ territory because there’s still a real length of flavour. Still, a no from me.
Best drinking: now to at least ten years. 16.5/20, 88/100. 15%, $75. Would I buy it? No.
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3 Comments
This is most disappointing. I tasted the 1998 Dead Arm at cellar door and it in no way resembled your description of the 2017. Has the wine making style changed?
Not changed per se, but this wine is just overripe and pushed too far. More is not more.
Unfortunate, considering that many Australian winemakers are trying to pull back from that style. I have a pair of 2004 Dead Arms and have high hopes for them. I suspect (and hope) that they are still a few years away if Jeremy Oliver is correct in his estimate.