Vintage 2011 overlaps 2012's

D'Arenberg of McLaren Vale celebrated their centenary last week, jollifications undimmed, I'm told, by the fact that party animal Chester Osborn was not 100% mobile. He and 84-year-old d'Arry shared reminiscences and launched a wine called Dadd (sic) in commemoration.

One of the celebrants was fellow long-hair Erni Loosen of the Mosel (pictured, darkly), who arrived in McLaren Vale on Thursday to discover that on that day D'Arenberg were picking their first grapes of the 2012 harvest while his team had finally managed, like a few of his German compatriots, to pick an Eiswein, which will, of course, as is...