The blondes in the name are white Rhône grapes Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier, while the bloke is d'Arenberg's oldest Shiraz vines; this combination adds apricot, ginger, pistachio and papaya to dark forest fruits and spice: unusual and delicious.

The Old Bloke is a Shiraz dominant blend with Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne, three white Rhone varieties that d'Arenberg planted in McLaren Vale in the 1990's. There was ample winter and spring rain which provided good sub soil moisture and resulted in healthy canopies and good vigour. Summer conditions were very mild. Grapes ripened gracefully with only a few small rain episodes, enough to keep the vines fresh and vibrant. Rainfall was only a little over average for the first months of the year.

Small batches of Shiraz grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to open fermenters, the skins of the white grapes are co-fermented with this Shiraz. Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation. The wine is basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of old. French and American oak to complete fermentation. The finished wine is then aged on lees, there is no racking until final blending and no fining or filtration.

Food Matching: Roasted lamb, beef, matured cheeses.