Yalumba Signature is such a reassuring wine. The ball just doesn’t get dropped. Plenty of finessing over the years, especially the oak regime (hello Hungarian wood, as I talked about in this review), but the style and quality is ever great.
You can buy this new Yalumba Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2021 with confidence.
This vintage bears the signature of Chris Gerhardy, who joined Yalumba as a 16-year-old bottling attendant in 1972 and is now the packaging and development manager. This wonderfully even release has classic flavours – iIt’s ripe, full-bodied Barossan red without being heavy. Let’s not shy away from the big oak and big fruit here, with cocoa powder and deep, thick plum and dark berry notes. Importantly, the oak has a savoury and grainy vibe compared to the chocolate milkshake/heavy toast mode. There’s tannic, Cab-driven darkness here, too, which is so welcome for the Barossa, where Shiraz gets all the love, and Cab plays a support role. This feels surprisingly approachable compared to some Signature releases – a moderate full-bodied Aussie red, and done so well.
- Best drinking: Seriously good, now or in two decades
- Score (out of 20): 18.7
- Score (out of 100): 95
- Alcohol %: 14.5
- RRP (in $AUD): 70
- Winery website: https://www.yalumba.com/
- Would I buy it?: sure would
THE VERDICT
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2 Comments
The Cab-Shiraz is one of my favourite expressions of Australian wine and any review of Yalumba’s Signature piques my interest. I am glad to hear that Yalumba has not dropped the ball on this one. I have been hanging on to my 1996 bottles and instead use the 1996 Koonunga Hill Cab-Shiraz to scratch my itch for mature bottles. I’m sure this new vintage will go two decades in a trot.
Two decades easy. Only wish it was under screwcap