Wine Details

d'Arenberg • The Laughing Magpie
20058988
20029393
200390
Australia • South Australia • McLaren Vale
93%
7%
Shiraz
Viognier
2005 (4 in Cellar)
89
Jeff Tolmie - 21.12.2008
Spicy pepper and toasted blackberries & mullberries on the nose. Something dry and dusty, like an old attic or a bag of cement. Lush rich dark berries with fine grained tannins and nice acids. Long fruit centric finish. This has settled nicely since the bottle I tasted a year ago. No over oaked notes here. A tasty, fruit focused wine.
88
Jeff Tolmie - 01.12.2007
No detailed notes yet, as the wine was in my opinion too young and rough to drink. Certainly not as good as the 2002, with too much vanilla and alcoholic notes.
22.11.07
6
13.75
Silke's WeinKeller
2002
93
Jeff Tolmie - 05.04.2007
At the time of purchase, Shiraz & Co had the 2003 Vintage for 17.90. Deep dark red. Inky in the middle. Nice rich aromas of blackcurrant but somehow a little subdued (in a way that promises a good taste). Licorice, tobacco and chocolate are all there in the background. Great! An immediate 9. Rich and balanced. Late harvested, dark and pushy. Not too sweet, tanins and acid that are not fighting with each other. Long, with the different facets alternating in the foreground.
93
- Wine Advocate
An exotic, heady, flamboyantly-styled red, it boasts an inky/purple color as well as a gorgeous nose of lychee nuts, acacia flowers, blackberries, and creme de cassis. Supple-textured and opulent, with pepper, licorice, and blackberry liqueur-like flavors, this beautiful wine is made in a modern, progressive style with terrific fruit intensity along with notions of sweet French oak in the background. It should drink well for 10-12 years. 01.10.2003
04.06.05
1
24.90
Weinblume
2003
90
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate
Not quite as successful as the brilliant 2001 and 2002, but still outstanding, the 2003 The Laughing Magpie Shiraz/Viognier (94% of the former and 6% of the latter) is not as powerful or rich as its two older siblings. Nevertheless, it is an impressive red offering an exotic nose of lychee nuts, honeysuckle, apricot marmalade, blackberries, and cassis. Expressive, full-bodied, and soft, but more superficial than usual, it is a flamboyant effort to drink over the next 5-7 years. 01.10.2004
Notes
Alcohol: 15%
Chester Osborn, the remarkable person behind this enormous array of both impeccably high quality and value-priced wines, deserves considerable accolades for what he is able to achieve at all price ranges. If you love Australian wines, d’Arenberg is a winery to seek out as these offerings all possess abundant soul as well as character. In short, the accolades that proprietor/winemaker Chester Osborn receives not only from The Wine Advocate, but virtually everybody in the wine world, are all well deserved.

The wine is explosive on the palate, super rich, full-bodied, voluptuous, and powerful, yet seamless and beautifully balanced with well-integrated tannin, wood, and acidity.

Ref: 104