WTN: Dead Arm Shiraz 1998

D'Arenberg
McLaren Vale

Decanted about ten minutes before the meal.

Very dark purple in the glass.

Spicy, cinnamon, red licorice, cedar and perfumed on the nose.

Very rich, peppery, black cherry, raspberry, spicy, red licorice, tangy, roasted notes, fairly thick in the mouth, perfumed, still somewhat firm, slightly hot and drying toward the end.

Raspberry and drying on the finish.

I bought six bottles of this when it was released in Canada in November 2001 and it has been interesting to follow its development over the years.

Purchased at $39.95 (Canadian).

Ha! My worst ever wine matching. The restaurant we were going to was BYO and I'd been itching to try one of these and in a good vintage like 1998, this was too difficult to resist. The downside was that the restaurant was a Vegetarian restaurant, with wonderfully tasty/delicate food, whereas Brontosaurus steak would have been a more appropriate match for the wine

I guess the hot/roasted notes are a worry, but this label does have a decent ageing track record, so I'd be tempted to string to bottles out over the next decade without undue fear. They'll certainly be fun to taste!

regards

Ian