d'Arenberg The Dead Arm: Vintages, Oak and Prices in 2026

The Dead Arm is the top Shiraz at d'Arenberg, the Osborn family winery in McLaren Vale, South Australia. The first vintage was 1993 (d'Arenberg). Every tech sheet the winery publishes, from 2004 to 2019, lists it as 100% McLaren Vale Shiraz.

Below is what the winery has published about the wine and each vintage, and what it sells for today in shops, at auction and on restaurant lists. The cellar details come from d'Arenberg's own tech sheets. The prices come from Wine Labs data collected on November 4, 2026.

The Dead Arm at a glance

Who makes The Dead Arm

Joseph Osborn bought the McLaren Vale property in 1912, and the family has farmed it since. Frank Osborn made the first wine there in 1928. His son d'Arry launched the red stripe label in 1959. Chester Osborn, the fourth generation, took over as chief winemaker in 1984, the year of his first vintage (d'Arenberg).

Chester Osborn is named as chief winemaker on every Dead Arm tech sheet. From the 2007 vintage on, the sheets also name Jack Walton as senior winemaker (2007 tech sheet, 2019 tech sheet).

The name comes from a vine disease. Eutypa lata, a fungus, slowly turns one arm of the vine into dead wood. The other arm keeps bearing a small crop, and the winery says those grapes are very intense (2019 tech sheet).

The 1994 vintage won the South Australian Wine of the Year trophy in 1996. Langton's ranked the wine Excellent in its classification in 2005 and upgraded it to Outstanding in 2011 (d'Arenberg).

Where the fruit comes from

The Dead Arm is a blend of parcels from several d'Arenberg vineyards, not a single site. The 2018 sheet describes selected parcels from across the winery's top vineyards. The 2004 sheet explains why they are picked separately. McLaren Vale soils change over short distances, from beach sand and glacial deposits to red earth over limestone on the hilltops, and the team picks parts of each vineyard at different times.

All of d'Arenberg's own and leased vineyards were certified organic in December 2015 and biodynamic in late 2016 (d'Arenberg).

The cellar method has stayed close to the same. Small batches are gently crushed and fermented in open fermenters, foot-trodden late in fermentation, then basket pressed. The wine finishes fermenting in barriques and stays on its lees, with no racking until the final blend and no fining or filtration (2019 tech sheet). The 2004 sheet adds that every barrel is tasted after 20 months and only the best go into The Dead Arm.

The Dead Arm vintages

The grape never changes, but the oak has. The 2004 to 2007 vintages spent 20 to 22 months in new and older French and American barriques. From 2008 the time in barrel dropped to 18 months. From 2017 the sheets list French oak only. Alcohol has ranged from 14.0% (2010) to 15.0% (2016, 2017 and 2019).

What The Dead Arm costs today

On November 4, 2026, 388 sellers had The Dead Arm on offer in a 750 ml bottle, counting each chain once. The largest groups are in the US (131 sellers), South Korea (44), Australia (42) and the UK (30). Half of all offers sit between $47 and $75, and the median is $58. The winery's own shop lists the 2019 at A$90 a bottle (d'Arenberg). That is in Australian dollars, so we keep it out of the chart below.

AuctionMedian of 8,932 sales, buyer's premium included$53

ShopsMedian of 388 sellers, all vintages$58

RestaurantsMedian of 245 wine lists$139

Per 750 ml bottle, US dollars, November 2026. The winery price (A$90) is in Australian dollars and not shown.

Channel	Price	Basis
Auction	$53	Median of 8,932 sales, buyer's premium included
Shops	$58	Median of 388 sellers, all vintages
Restaurants	$139	Median of 245 wine lists

These prices don't measure the same thing. Shop prices mix many vintages and countries. Auction prices are what one lot sold for, with the buyer's premium but before shipping, tax and storage. A restaurant price includes service.

Every vintage in the table costs more in shops than at auction. Shops ask a median of $100 for the 1998 and 1999, and $105 for the 2004. At auction those vintages sold for medians of $62, $50 and $63. The gap is narrowest for the 2016, at $44 in shops and $43 at auction. The 2019, the current release, is $47 in shops and $36 at auction.

$0$50$100$150

1998$62$100

1999$50$100

2000$51$83

2001$62$88

2002$55$79

2004$63$105

2006$69$84

2014$42$53

2015$38$69

2016$43$44

2017$40$57

2018$31$50

Medians per 750 ml. Selected vintages with at least five shop sellers and five auction sales.

Vintage	Shop median	Auction median
1998	$100	$62
1999	$100	$50
2000	$83	$51
2001	$88	$62
2002	$79	$55
2004	$105	$63
2006	$84	$69
2014	$53	$42
2015	$69	$38
2016	$44	$43
2017	$57	$40
2018	$50	$31

We leave a vintage out when fewer than five sellers or five sales stand behind either median. Many shop offers (200 sellers) don't state a vintage, so they count in the overall median but not in this table. Per-vintage shop figures leave out stores whose listings do not state a reliable vintage.

At auction

We have 8,932 Dead Arm sales with a recorded price, at 37 auction houses, from March 2002 to November 2026. Langtons accounts for 7,759 of them, followed by Bid For Wine (219), Acker Merrall Condit (141), Spectrum Wine Auctions (110) and K&L Wines (108). The median is $53, and half of all sales fall between $42 and $67.

The 1993, the first vintage, has the highest median of any vintage with five or more sales: $109 across 21 sales. The 1994, the trophy winner, follows at $74 (32 sales). A small number of lots, 46 in all, carry vintages older than 1993. Those can't be The Dead Arm, and they are too few to shift the overall figures much.

The median by year of sale peaked at $72 in 2012. It has been lower since, with $41 in 2025 and $46 so far in 2026.

All vintages, per 750 ml, buyer's premium included. 2026 runs to November 1.

Year	Median	Sales
2012	$72	321 sales
2013	$70	331 sales
2014	$66	438 sales
2015	$55	537 sales
2016	$52	882 sales
2017	$50	791 sales
2018	$46	414 sales
2019	$47	453 sales
2020	$51	262 sales
2021	$61	227 sales
2022	$54	344 sales
2023	$50	198 sales
2024	$47	223 sales
2025	$41	500 sales
2026	$46	434 sales

On restaurant lists

The Dead Arm is on 245 restaurant wine lists in our data, collected between February 2025 and November 2026. Nearly all are in Australia (217 lists marked Australia, plus a few with other spellings), and one is in the US. The median list price is $139 a bottle, and half the lists price it between $111 and $180.

The Dead Arm in the d'Arenberg range

d'Arenberg makes a long range of wines at lower prices. These are the ones with the most sellers in our data, all vintages together. The Dead Arm row repeats the figures above. The other rows take each seller's lowest price across all vintages, with chains counted once.

Buying The Dead Arm

The winery sells the current release in its online shop. Members of its Ceno Club get regular deliveries and access to limited and museum releases. Older vintages trade often at auction, mostly at Langtons in Australia.

See all d'Arenberg wines on the d'Arenberg producer page. See live Dead Arm prices and auction history in Wine Labs market data.

Data methodology: Wine Labs data, November 4, 2026, for "d'Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia". Shop prices are live 750 ml offers from online merchants and wine shops, one price per seller per vintage (the lowest), with each chain counted once, and with multi-bottle packs and the winery's own shop left out. Auction prices are sold lots with a recorded result, buyer's premium included, per 750 ml bottle, with mixed lots and flagged outliers left out. Restaurant prices are one bottle price per restaurant. All prices in US dollars. The one exception is the winery price, which is in Australian dollars and comes from d'Arenberg's own shop. Winemaking details are from d'Arenberg's tech sheets and website, linked above.