The Hermit Crab and The Dry Dam are Value Stand-Outs
Wine & Spirits
June, 2015
by Joshua Greene
If you are looking for a different sort of critter on your bottle of wine, one that inhabits a fresh, marine environment, check out The Hermit Crab 2012 from d’Arenberg. The family winery, built a reputation for great wine at reasonable prices in the 1960s with d’Arry’s Original. D’Arry Osborn’s son, Chester, has extended the brand through his hyperactive imagination, while remaining faithful to the family’s core values of sustaining old vines and traditional winemaking practices. Chester expresses his creativity through his labels and the stories he builds around them, like the tale of the hermit crabs who gave their shells to build the limestone soils where he now grows Viognier and Marsanne. At $17, you will find few better matches for Dungeness crab than this blend with its tart apple and juicy orange flavors. Or order up some Thai shrimp curry and chill a bottle of The Dry Dam Riesling, a light, off-dry style that will freshen up almost any Asian takeout.
90 pts d’Arenberg The Hermit Crab 2012
89 pts d’Arenberg The Dry Dam 2013
Wine & Spirits Top 100 Values of the Year:
88 pts d’Arenberg The Stump Jump Sauvignon Blanc 2013
A round and supple style of Sauvignon Blanc, this wine’s broad, waxy fruit is juicy enough to keep its feral pyrazines at bay. Match the wine’s meaty fun to braised veal.