Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Shiraz 2018
Recommended $82 retail. Our price $73/$65.70 by the dozen (or in a mixed dozen).
Yalumba have taken the high ground in recent years with this outstanding blend. While the competition has spread the fruit a little thinly in recent years – drawing grapes from lesser regions (Padthaway, Robe and Wrattonbully) Yalumba has stuck with great vineyard sites in the Barossa. It really shows in this superb new vintage. Congratulations Yalumba. I have been a great fan of the Yalumba Signature style for a long time. It’s an old school Cabernet Shiraz blend at its best & the 2018 is full of rich plum and blackberry fruit, plenty of dark chocolate, with savoury spice notes adding lots of complexity – clove, licorice, nutmeg and cinnamon. The intensity, concentration & richness to the mouthfeel is outstanding. The power and complexity demand your attention.The tannins are long & firm with just the right amount of austerity. Begging for a char-grilled steak. As other comparable wines have increased considerably in price in recent years, it looks to me like a real bargain. Nick Waterman, one of Yalumba's long serving employees is justified with his signature on the label (he has just retired) Highly recommmended for table and 20 years in the cellar. Ian Cook, FWC.
Since its first release in 1962, The Signature has been Yalumba's deep dive into the classic Australian blend from the Barossa and one that honors the people who have enhanced the traditions and culture of Yalumba. There is a resonance and depth to this release that I really like. Wonderfully pure and concentrated blackberry and plum fruits, layered with spice, dark chocolate, earth, cedar and oak nuance. Succulent and sinewy in the mouth, it flexes considerable muscle, yet remains purely fruited and approachable even at this stage of its evolution. Rich and balanced with fine, ripe tannin and plenty of energy for such depth of fruit. Lovely. Drink to 2050. 96 Points. Dave Brookes, Halliday's Wine Companion.
Yalumba has been making its ‘Signature’ red since the early 1960s. This release is an exercise in richness. It’s thick with flavour, smooth-skinned, intense and creamy. Blackberry and saturated plum, blackcurrant and vanilla, a mere semblance of dried herbs and some toasted cedar. There’s a lot of oak here, more than I was expecting, but then there’s more fruit too, and enough tannin to lock it all into place. This is a substantial red in every way, built to last, sweet-accented, full-bodied, commanding. Drink 2025-2038+. 95 Points. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front.
