For d’Arenberg’s Dead Arm Shiraz, small batches of grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to five ton open fermenters. These batches remain separate until final blending and foot treading is undertaken two-thirds of the way through fermentation. The wine is then basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of new and used French and old American oak barrels to complete fermentation. The barrel ferments are aged on lees, there is no racking until final blending and no fining or filtration.

The name Dead Arm pays a sort of tribute to a vine disease. Caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world, the result leaves one half of the vine, or an 'arm', reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.