d'Arenberg, The Ironstone Pressings Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre, McLaren Vale

Berry and berry. Deep solid colour which matched its taste. Smooth from front to back with the Grenache and Mourvèdre starting and finishing. Still very satisfying.

2011 vintage

Lucky me. We opened a bottle, decanted. Very tight and not good at first, but it opened nicely over the next hour. Deep dark fruit. Still some remaining tannins. But thoroughly enjoying. I see other members have 92 bottles remaining in their cellars. If your bottles have been cellared carefully, you will absolutely love this wine!

2004 vintage

Beautiful floral bouquet. Aromas jump from the glass. Dark burgundy through the edges. Tannins are round and integrated with lively acidity. Bright red fruit flavors - cherry, pomegranate, and cola. Medium+ finish. Lovely.

2011 vintage

A very well balanced GSM - probably reaching the end of its life perhaps a couple more years?

2011 vintage

This feels overdone. Perhaps too much acid addition to balance a ripe vintage. Pretty awful.

2014 vintage

This GSM is very rich and has massive fruit flavors of everything from sweet & sour to tangy & tart, and above all… cherry lifesavers! The wine is loads of fun to drink; it has scents of beef bouillon, medium weight with moderate acidity and mild oak, solid tannins, and a lengthy finish of about 30 seconds. It’s a true Aussie with generous portions of road tar and earthiness but it has abundant finesse as well. The perfect accompaniment would …

2004 vintage

Pleasant if not too restrained - primary fruit (cherry, plum) struggling to make an impact on the nose or palate. Further savoury characteristics on the palate, toasted oak and fine tannins, medium acidity and a short finish. High alcohol but once again wasn't evident in the body. Was expecting more for the price, just scrapes a 90 based on my love of this label. Not sure that there is much to be gained from by leaving the rest in the …

2014 vintage

{screwcap, 14.5%} Deep garnet red - no purple or black. Mostly youthful nose, of plums, dark chocolate, a tiny hint of tobacco, and tiniest smidge of banana character. The Grenache I’d guess. The palate is medium/full-bodied, with spicy black fruit flavours, some earth too -Mourvèdre quality - medium acidity and low/medium powdery tannins. Not especially oaky at all. I reckon there’s even some banana that makes it onto the palate. It has an even presence along the tongue but somehow …

2014 vintage

Flawed My #10, Group's #8 (77 pts). Tastes blind.

2004 vintage

MNB: Australian Reds II (Home (Noe st)) : Medium plus ruby with a garnet rim, unfiltered - some sediment. Nose smells tertiary (tamari and bottle sweetness). Quite old - sweet browned apples, but not totally dead. Some VA - perfume/fusel alcohols. Some clear wet stone / petrichor - like a damp cellar. Dry, full-bodied, 14.4% alcohol (actually 14.5%), powdery old cinnamon (new oak), medium plus tannins - still a bit grippy, medium plus acid. Faded and tertiary black fruit - …

1999 vintage

Aromatic red cherry, creamy raspberry, white pepper, orange peel on the nose. Smooth tannins, high acid, medium+ finish that has a nice savoury spice kick.

2014 vintage

This wine got neglected in the back of my cellar and I waited too long on it, but still enjoyable. There was an unpleasant funk on opening, but that blew off after 30 minutes. Not much fruit, it's mostly secondary flavors now. Celery, tobacco, bitter chocolate, iodine, blood, with some Grenache gaminess and faint cherry flavor.

1999 vintage

OK now we're talking. This is a GSM with proportions 72% Grenache, 25% Shiraz and just 3% Mourvèdre. Considering how good the Mourvèdre is here I might have given it more of a role. But this is a good GSM, with an amazingly hypnotic, concentrated nose, spicy and herbaceous hints, with beautiful minerality and structure. I expect this to get better and better over time. Very good.

2014 vintage

A bit different flavor profile that is hard to describe. Maybe the tannins, maybe something else. At any rate, it really needs food. It was very pleasant with salamis and cheeses.

2004 vintage

Part of a Thanksgiving Birthday celebration

2004 vintage

Darn what mistake ��

1999 vintage

Good colour - deep purple. Not as concentrated as I recall this from the past. Sweet and ripe black fruits on the nose, and of course on the palate - a little spice, pepper but lacks depth and complexity of flavour. Disappointing, need to turn the clock back 10 years!

2011 vintage

Game of Rhones (Carriageworks, Redfern) : Reductive…anonymous in a tart and rather unpleasant way

2011 vintage

Still in great shape, with beautifully three-dimensional black fruits like blackcurrant and huckleberry. Held up 3 days after opening. Delicious stuff!

2004 vintage

Decanted Showing some maturity, brick red from the core out, still watery on the meniscus. Showing some sediment. Aromas show above moderate complexity, with moderate intensity. Definitely showing more of the Grenache aspect on the nose. Dried raspberry, strawberry and dried violet meet scents of blueberry, old leather, black pepper, cigar tobacco, earth and dust with herb and subtle vanilla and smoke characteristics. The palate retains its acidity at a medium-plus level with firm, ripe but still well integrated tannins. …

2004 vintage

I consider myself Lucky to still have 3 bottles of this superb wine. They are even better than the ones I drank over the last few years. So it is still holding pretty well, but I won't push my luck further than 2016. This is a perfect exemple of the opportunity to be able to store wine and wait for it to mature.

2004 vintage

Very impressive, dark fruit amazing bouquet of dark fruit with tobacco hints. Velvety tannins, opened up nicely over 2 hours

1999 vintage

Quite dark colour for a GSM. Light fruit and spicy on the nose. Not much fruit, delicate flavours. Shortish finish.

2011 vintage

Weekly tasting group #160; New World wines (@ WW) : Complex and mature bouquet with tobacco, autumn impressions and luxurious oak. On the palate a mature but beautiful, refined and complex wine as well with mature cassis, some red forest fruits, chocolate and cinnamon, beautiful acidity and soft tannin. Maybe just a little past its peak, but still a really beautiful wine and I will still score it: 92

1999 vintage

Past its prime. Losing too much of the fruit at this point.

1999 vintage

Just an outstanding bottle of wine, and verification of the notion that we should give these wines an opportunity to age!

1999 vintage

The previous reviewer has it spot on - the is the finest GSM I've ever tasted. The amazing thing is that, 1: I generally dislike d'Arenberg wines (far too fruit-driven), and 2: I have a very strong preference for Old World wines. Opened just 45 minutes prior to drinking (no decanting required at this age) and required very little time in the glass to open up. Some bricking around the edges, but, other than that, still has a deep, impenetrable …

1999 vintage

I continue to be impressed by this juicy yet delicate easy drinking incredible blend (in multiple vintages). This may be d'Arenberg's secret weapon!

2004 vintage

Patina: branches, dark moss, wet mushrooms, high acidity with a beef jerky aspect and tangy finish. Really cool--great with peking duck breast.

1992 vintage

This is just such an enduring and incredible GSM! Really, Aussie or French, bar none! If you don't think these sort of wines age, it is because you lack the patience or the experience. This is subtle, silky, and yet structured! Marvelous wine!

1999 vintage

Still a very good GSM blend. Not too many years left now. Very rich fruit, lovely mouth feel and still quite a long finish, despite its age.

1999 vintage

Lovely secondary nose. Still has some fruit, the palate reasonably balanced, not a big finish. On the way down, ideally should have been drunk a few years ago.

1999 vintage

Raisen and sweet blackberry with heat.

2004 vintage

The bottle was either tainted or the wine has passed its peak. I decanted for 1 hour before trying it. I had my last glass about four hours later. This was quite a dissapointment to me, especially considering how much I love the dead arm shiraz from them.

2004 vintage

Quite nice once the tinned vegetable element had blown off. Had hoped it would be more than quite nice though.

1999 vintage

This confirms the faultiness of the last bottle. Here we have some brick-infused garnet as evidence of age, and a developed vanilla/blueberry sweet chocolate nose. Sweet oak flavours on the palate; aged jam, and fairly simple aging soft red fruits. It's not too pruney or hot, but it's very warm and cuddly; a kind of sit-by-the-fire wine that reminds you of reduction sauce. Medium-full bodied; decent coverage along to the back palate; but although it's kind of big and comfy, …

1999 vintage

{cork, 14.5%} Looks its age; garnet with fading brickish rim; not exactly glowing either; a sign of things to come. Aged, rather dull nose of compost, mushroom, liquid rust, more than a whiff of brett. Palate is flat too; stale and even baked (I suspect some mixture of heat damage &/or oxidation at work here) with its pruney fruits and generally fungal aspect. Not properly tannic, but a dull astringent finish, with little mid-palate presence. Tastes pretty hollow, all things …

1999 vintage

Un nez assez concentré et mure...on sent qu'il y a pas mal d'extraction. Des mures et un peu d'épices avec une pointe de caramel. En bouche, c'est tout de même assez soyeux, beaucoup de fruits avec des tannins souples, finale assez longue un peu sucrée. Mieux que je m'attendais mais manque de finesse et de complexité.

2004 vintage

Full bodied, but didn't hold through the finish. Not great with seafood. Would have been better with meat.

2004 vintage

This 90+ rating is just the half of it. It was dark in color, but light in taste, plenty of nose and wrought with fruit. The downside is that I only had 1 bottle--a gift from people who must have liked me.

2004 vintage

Juicy, just really great wine. Emjoyed this with a pork tenderloin but would be even better with a hunk of red meat.

2004 vintage

stupendous

2004 vintage

Sweet crushed purple currants with cassis. Juicy gobs of fruit married nicely with spice and chocolate lift.

2004 vintage

I'll be go to hell. I bought a six pack of this wine almost five years ago on a close-out sale. have drank five of them and have generally been disappointed but this last bottle is really singing. the color is a deep garnet with very slight cloudiness. The expressive nose is fruit, earth, nuts, spice. The wine still has a nice tannic backbone that says to me it has at least a few good years ahead. Good balance and …

1999 vintage

Woody, dry, disgusting. Cannot use this even for the worst cooking!

1999 vintage

Blood -Red to garnet red in Color, and mostly opaque. Slight bricking at the edge of the ring, but overall nice color for a bottle of this vintage. Their was a high mineral quality, and and "rust" element on the nose along with the Red berry fruit. Some leather and forest floor. The mouthfeel was silky and smooth, and the tannins barely perceived. The fruit element on the attack of this GSM blend was very impressive! Clearly, this is a …

1999 vintage

Popped and poured. Dark, rich, almost opaque color. Blackberry and eldeberry. Had with bar-b-que and it was a big hit at the party! Minerality with crushed rock on mid-palate, with slight spice on lengthy finish. Really drinking well now but has the depth and complexity to go a few more years.

1999 vintage

Bottle was pretty tight off the start and never really developed. Next day was a bit better but nothing special.

1999 vintage

The nose has predominant heat, with chocolate and berries. The taste is much smoother than the nose implies. There's a racy, spicy overtone with cherry. The finish is extra spicy and a little bit earthy. This wine is decent, but definitely not worth more than $20. For the $36 I paid for it, I feel like I got hosed...

2004 vintage

Dark berries and dark cherry liqueur from beginning to end, plus quality leather on the nose, chocolate and coffee on the long finish. Still good after two nights in fridge... smoother, less liqueur.

1999 vintage

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d'Arenberg, The Ironstone Pressings Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre, McLaren Vale

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