d’Arenberg The Bonsai Vine GSM 2018

Sometimes drinking wines from d’Arenberg can be a step back in time. While wine styles have changed, and most wineries keep tinkering with their formula, d’Arenberg stays the course, and no doubt their many fans are very happy about that. This is a complex example of a grenache shiraz mourvedre blend although with a fair dose of rusticity.

It is very deeply coloured and immediately displays ripe and fleshy aromas – tar, earth, mulberry and spice with old oak firmly in the background. The palate then is dense and rich – very tannic for a grenache thanks to the warm year. The fruit is formidable and brooding – with savoury dark fruits, spice and some animal skin from the mourvedre showing good concentration and length. This wine screams out for meat so make sure you match it up to a healthy portion of Rib eye steak.

Angus Hughson

Founder at Winepilot

Angus is an award-winning wine writer and the Founder and Publisher of Winepilot, the Australian Editor for leading international publication VINOUS with Antonio Galloni based in New York City and the Co-Publisher of The Australian Ark with over 15 years of publishing, writing and judging experience.

Criticauthor and publisher