d’Arenberg: Australian Orignals

As one of the oldest wine producers in the region, d’Arenberg are a reference point for the wines of the McLaren Vale. This historic South Australian area lies between the Mount Lofty ranges and the Gulf St. Vincent coastline not far from Adelaide, boasting an astonishing variety of terroirs and some of the oldest vines not just in Australia but the world.

The story of d’Arenberg starts with Joseph Osborn. A fascinating character Joseph was a prize-winning horse racer, something he hid from his strict Methodist mother, amassing 72 wins, considerable prize money and a stable of thoroughbreds under the nom de guerre ‘J Rowen’. He was also company secretary and later director at Thomas Hardy, so when his son Frank was forced to drop out of medical school due to ill health and advised to take up life on the land Joseph sold his horses and bought several acres of shiraz vines for his son. That is despite being a tee-totaler!

For much of the early years the fruit from the vineyards was sold to other producers like Hardys until Frank, persuaded by his brother-in-law Sam Tolley, built a winery on the property in 1927. It was a compact affair, with 19 concrete open-air storage tanks and several hand-operated basket presses. At the time called ‘Bundarra Vineyards by F. E. Osborn & Sons’ the first vintage in 1928 was a bold table wine and a fortified port-style wine for the export market.

The modern history of the estate really starts with Frank’s son, d’Arry. He left school early to take up work on the family’s vineyards at the tender age of 16, due to his father’s post-war ill health. It was him that re-named the estate d’Arenberg as a tribute to his late mother (her maiden name) and added the iconic red stripe to the label.

D’Arry had no formal training in winemaking and there was a distinct seat-of-your-pants approach in those early days, with d’Arry working long hours, learning on the job how to run the business and how to make wine. But with his frontier pragmatism and classic Aussie stubbornness D’Arry’s instincts proved solid, creating some legendary wines that firmly put d’Arenberg on the map.

He handed over the reigns of the winemaking to his son Chester Osborn in 1984, although remained as manager of the estate as he is to this day. Chester was working the vines almost as soon as he could walk and when he came of age was the first of the Osborn family to receive training in winemaking, graduating from Australia’s prestigious Roseworthy wine school. Although he did add some modern touches, most importantly refrigeration and a laboratory, little changed: no fertiliser or cultivation in the vineyards, every grape basket-pressed, the red wines still trodden by foot. Even those concrete fermenters his grandfather built in 1927 are still in use.

The d’Arenberg Cube

But while traditional, his wines are anything but old-fashioned. You just have to look at the d’Arenberg cube, a magnificent multi-layered, multi-functional visitor’s centre set amongst mourvèdre vines containing a museum, world-class restaurant, art-installations and a virtual fermenter, to name but a few. It has become one of the McLaren Vale’s top tourist attractions with 1000 visitors a day.

The estates holdings have also expanded to around 200 hectares in the Vale, with interests further beyond as well. The viticulture employed is both organic and biodynamic throughout, and the winery is certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia utilising solar energy and a commitment to recycling and reducing plastic in its packaging.

Chester farms his varied plots with characteristic aplomb. If you have met him there is little chance you will forget him, with his colourful shirts, long hair and a infectious, gregarious personality that are mirrored in the exuberant style of his wines.

Ah yes the wines. There are a lot of them, over 70 different cuvées from 37 different grape varieties. That can raise some eyebrows in certain quarters for being scattergun, but there is an undoubted method to the madness. Ask Chester why he makes so many and he will answer with a defiant ‘because I can’ but look more closely and there is a deep instinct and understanding of the local terroir with a concomitant desire to express the personality of every vineyard farmed.

And there is plenty of personality to go around. McLaren Vale is home to an incredible diversity of soils and microclimates, one of the most extreme in the world with 55 different geological formations and soil types ranging from 15,000 years old to 550 million. It is this diversity that informs the fundamental natural of the region’s wines, and while it is known principally for its Rhone varietals many different grape types can flourish here.

And this in turn informs Chester’s ebullient approach to his winemaking. Having walked amongst the vines and tasted their fruit all of his life, he knows them intimately and that affinity is reflected in his wines. They are made all the more characterful by their names, like ‘Lucky Lizard’ Chardonnay and ‘The Money Spider’ Roussanne. There is always story behind them; the lucky lizard was spotted amongst the Chardonnay grapes about to be pressed and rescued from a sticky end, the money-spiders found when they uncovered a freshly picked bin of Roussanne grapes covered with the eight-legged critters which Chester simply left (which, being Australia, was probably the wisest course of action).

D'Arenberg’s most famous wine, The Dead Arm Shiraz, is a reference to a fungal disease that strikes at older vines and causes one of its branches to whither and drop off. This reduces the vines yield considerably and some might grub up the vines to replace with more productive ones. But it also concentrates the intensity and flavours of the grapes that are left, and makes a heady, rich Shiraz that is one of Australia’s best, mentioned in the same breath as Grange and Hill of Grace.

But at nowhere near the price of those two stalwarts. Looking around the web I was astonished to see Dead Arm being offered at not much more than the £27 a bottle I sold a parcel of it for a decade ago, still well shy of £40. That is great value for a wine of its pedigree and longevity, but you do not have to spend that much to sample Chester’s genius winemaking. From its entry level ‘Stump Jump’ wines to the 60 or more different bottlings there is a d’Arenberg wine to suit every pocket and palate.

As I have said elsewhere, no discussion of terroir is complete without including the people that interpret and express it and Chester is a prime example of this. When I started in the business I remember a certain new world prejudice against the term, hearing it called lazy winemaking on more than one occasion. But winemakers are constantly learning and evolving and producers like d’Arenberg embody this: Chester is a force of nature, a restless mind that is constantly looking to challenge himself, a churn of innovation and invention that also is rooted in time-honoured familial tradition. As Chester puts it, d’Arenberg is Europe meets Australia, with the former’s sensibilities and the latter’s flair.

D’Arenberg wines are widely available, but here a few of my picks from the extensive range. Dead Arm I have already talked about, well worth adding to the cellar. I also really like the Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon, and The Derelict Vineyard Grenache. The Ironstone Pressings is another classic, as is the Money Spider Roussanne. But really the world is your oyster with d’Arenberg, just get tucked in and enjoy this Aussie original.

Written by A James Cole