Deep, dark red. Pure and unobstructed by new oak, the nose is lifted with dark fruit flavours of blackberry, mint chocolate and anise. Dustings of white pepper spice, vanilla, and black olive tapenade provide an intriguing savoury counterpoint to the more primary fruit characters. The palate is concentrated with a luscious rolling texture and packed with fresh blackberry, dark chocolate and liquorice flavours. The wine is juicy and plush with silky tannins that linger, providing a drying, savoury finish.

The vineyards for the Jester Shiraz are located at the southern end of McLaren Vale, close to the seaside town of Aldinga. The combination of cool sea breezes and gully winds provide ideal conditions for growing fruit of intensity and balance. The vines sit in heavy clay, which gives the wine powerful fruit flavours.

Aromas of cherries, Campari, raspberries, fennel seeds with hints of bergamot tea and orange zest. Lively on the palate with fresh, ripe raspberries with a beetroot earthiness. A wine of purity, silken texture and slippery tannins. Approachable now, but beguiling layers hint to an intriguing future.

The winery changed hands in May 2016, with one family comapny, Brown Brothers, taking it off the hands of another, its founder, Phil Sexton. So associated is Innocent Bystander with the Yarra Valley that the new owners have made the intelligent decision to build a new winery in Healesville, just across the parking lot from Giant Steps. And they are quickly signing contracts with all the grape growers that Phil has used for Innocent Bystander so that the style of the wines remains unchanged. That style - wines that are regional and varietal, reflecting the soil, climate and topography of the cool climate in the Yarra Valley – has been the base upon which the reputation of Innocent Bystander has been built.

Powerful flavours with great finesse, earthy and savoury, slowly giving way to sweeter and spicier fruit. A classic, quintessential Australian Shiraz.

FROM THE WINEMAKER

The 2011 Dead Arm is all about style, poise and savouriness. The gods may have thrown us challenging conditions and admittedly, there is a slight shift in style when compared to the more classic years of The Dead Arm, but the quality of this wine speaks for itself and an avid Dead Arm drinker will identify all the hallmarks of this iconic Shiraz. The nose gives a fair insight into what to expect. Sweet fruits are initially subdued, the wine appears all about cedar, peat, fresh turned soil, ironstone, fennel and cured meats. If decanted, (highly recommended), slowly the layers of savoury aromas unfurl, releasing an entirely new array of sweeter fruit characters which gently develop, eventually taking pride of place, front and centre. A raft of black and purple fruits, blackberry, satsuma plum, blackcurrant, liquorice and sweet beetroot. The palate follows suit. Initially earthy and savoury, slowly giving way to sweeter and spicier fruits. The mouthfeel is very sleek and focused. Despite this it feels dense and compact, only fleshing out with time. It’s amazing how much complexity is built into such a relatively elegant (in Dead Arm terms) package. Tannins are prominent and drive the wine to a long finish but never feel hard or extracted. All in all, an ethereal wine, that will reward the connoisseur with patience!

The Name

Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half, or an ‘arm’ of the vine slowly becomes reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.

AWARDS

Double Gold Medal 2015 China Wine & Spirits Awards, Best Value Gold Medal 2014 Mundus Vini International Wine Show Summer Tasting