Continuing my occasional look at some great Australian wine, I’m sitting here with a bottle of d’Arenberg ‘The Dead Arm’ Shiraz in front of me.

There are literally hundreds of great d’Arenberg wine stories that are still regularly told when wine lovers get together. The vineyard itself, located in the McLaren Vale, was purchased exactly one hundred years ago this year by teetotaler Joseph Osborn. The winery truly came into its own when third generation family member Francis d’Arenberg Osborn – universally known as d’Arry – launched the d’Arenberg (his mother’s maiden name) label in 1959. Now in his eighties, d’Arry is a much loved and respected figure in the wine industry and is still involved in the wine-making process along with his son, the dynamic and decidedly individual Chief Winemaker Chester d’Arenberg Osborn.

Under Chester’s guidance the family vineyards returned to traditional grape-growing practices of minimal inputs and no fertilization, cultivation and irrigation whenever possible, therefore achieving natural soil flavors and very low yields. All grapes, red and white, are basket-pressed, and the reds are still traditionally fermented with the grape skins submerged in open wax-lined concrete fermenters utilizing the age-old technique of foot-treading.

 So coming from a winery that prides itself on ‘The Art of Being Different’ and imparts some amusingly off-the-wall names to its wines, just what is the Dead Arm?

Actually, Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa lata which can randomly affect vines throughout the world. In effect it kills off one half, or arm, of the vine, reducing it to dead wood. Many wineries choose to severely prune these vines or even rip them out and replant. But d’Arenberg, it seems, prefers to perceive the glass as being half full rather than half empty. They see this disease as a natural part of vineyard life. Noticing that the remaining unaffected part of the vine produces rich, intense, highly flavored grapes, they decided to vinify it separately from other d’Arenberg Shiraz. The result is a wine that has power, depth and length, with immense structure (and yet a remarkable finesse) that is enjoyable now but can age at least 20 years to reach its full potential.

I’ve been staring at this bottle of Dead Arm long enough. Anybody want to join me?

Bill Stobbs, ABC Wine Supervisor, Tampa/St Pete

(Follow me on Twitter at abcwinebills)