91
James Suckling
91
Our Score
91
Wine Advocate
91
Wine & Spirits
"d'Arry's Original is one of the most consistent and consistently satisfying reds grown in South Australia. D'Arry Osborn, Chester's father, developed it in the 1950s, having joined the family business in 1943 at the age of 16. It was a time when most McLaren Vale vineyards were devoted to grapes for fortified wines. In 1959, d'Arry released his first d'Arenberg Burgundy, with the red stripe on the label, the blend of grenache and shiraz that would become d'Arry's Original in 1993. Chester makes it as his father did, in small open-top fermenters with headed-down boards to keep the cap of grape skins submerged. It's foot trod, basket-pressed and aged in a mix of French oak barrels, emerging, with a few years of bottle age, as a cool, floral, zesty blend with crunchy heirloom-apple acidity and funky, meaty edges to the tannins. A firm and juicy red you could drink now or ten years from now."
