D'Arenberg "Dead Arm" McLaren Vale Shiraz 2018

James Suckling : 96 Points

(11/27/2022) Quite expressive and exotic, with red plums, blackberries and iodine, as well as dried herbs and nori, quite fragrant spices and currants. The palate has a sleek, dense and long feel, with impressive fruit intensity, delivered in such contained and impressively composed style. This has such length and intensity with a silky texture. Old vines underpin the style here. Drink over the next decade or more. Screw cap.

Vinous - Angus Hughson : 93+ Points

(2/2023) This young, tightly coiled 2018 Shiraz is far from ready to drink. Right now, it is a heady mix of fruit, oak, lavish tar, licorice, and warm slate aromas wrapped up in a thick blanket of coconut oak. That impressive flavor intensity is well supported by weighty tannins through a seriously long finish. Bold and embryonic, this needs at least ten years, if not more, to flower. Drinking Window: 2030 - 2042.

Wine Enthusiast : 92 Points

(10/1/2023) Rich, heady aromas of mint, mocha, ground pepper, plum and black currant preserves lead to an equally powerful, dense palate that's wound in muscular, dusty tannins. This is a massive wine now, but everything is in place for it to go the distance—a decade, at least.

Wine Spectator : 91 Points

(6/30/2023) Dense, with toothsome tannins that add a firm background to tangy blackberry and blueberry flavors, with notes of crushed rock and fresh earth, spices, tobacco and toasted cedar. Firming finish, where strong laurel bay leaf and sage accents linger. Drink now through 2030. 2,100 cases imported.