The Little Venice Shiraz
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2035
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Slow-roasted lamb shoulder, grilled ribeye steak, rich venison stew
✨ Technical Specifications
Part of d'Arenberg's acclaimed 'Amazing Sites' single-vineyard collection, 'The Little Venice' Shiraz is a terroir-driven masterpiece from McLaren Vale. The vineyard earns its whimsical name from a nearby creek that frequently overflows during wet winters, creating a network of channels reminiscent of the famous Italian canal city. This unique water-adjacent topography, combined with ancient, free-draining soils, forces the vines to struggle, resulting in tiny, flavor-concentrated berries. True to d'Arenberg's traditionalist philosophy, the fruit is gently foot-trodden in open-top fermenters and basket-pressed. The wine is then matured in a combination of new and older French and American oak barriques, yielding a robust, complex Shiraz defined by dark brambly fruit, exotic spices, and a distinct mineral-tinged finish.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1912 by Joseph Osborn, d'Arenberg stands as an iconic pillar of McLaren Vale viticulture, stewarded today by fourth-generation chief winemaker Chester Osborn. The estate spans undulating coastal landscapes influenced by the moderating maritime winds of the Gulf St Vincent, resting upon complex, ancient geologies ranging from calcareous Terra Rossa to sandy loam and weathered limestone. Viticulture is rigorous and certified organic and biodynamic across all estate-owned and leased vineyards. While renowned for formidable Rhone-style reds, d'Arenberg's white winemaking upholds identical artisanal rigor: gentle whole-bunch basket pressing ensures minimal phenolics and purity of expression. From the racy, textural The Money Spider Roussanne and crisp The Dry Dam Riesling to the lusciously layered botrytised expressions The Noble Semillon and The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana, the wines epitomize balance, crystalline minerality, and vibrant natural acidity.
🍇 Grapes
Shiraz
🍷 ABV
14.5%