The Signature Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

At a school reunion in Brisbane at the Regatta Hotel Boatshed last Saturday. I selected this from the menu. The group loved it and we consumed several bottles. No formal notes but this was from the excellent 2018 vintage in South Australia. Dark fruits with well judged oak. A full bodied Cabernet Shiraz blend with great intensity and length. I have a few bottles in my cellar which I won’t be touching for many years. Destined to become one of the great “Signatures”.

Limpid ruby. A complex and finely detailed bouquet evokes red and dark fruit preserves, pipe tobacco, smoky oak and candied rose and a succulent herb nuance builds in the glass. Offers bitter cherry, mulberry, cola, floral pastille and spicecake flavors, along with hints of vanilla and mocha. The smoky note recurs on an impressively long, floral- and spice-driven finish that's framed by smooth, even tannins. (Josh Raynolds, Vinous, December 2021)

Lunch with friends on Saturday. Excellent as always. See previous notes. Yalumba’s premium red from a good vintage. A classic Cabernet Shiraz from the Barossa. Preferred by most over the 2002 Wendouree Cabernet Malbec. Had another bottle 132 weeks later on 12th January 2024. This was my 2nd last bottle of an original dozen. Have the last one in mid 2025 or 2026 when 20 years old. This tasting predictably good. The mint of the Cabernet coming through (69%). All of the flavours balanced and interwoven.

The Signature is a Cabernet Shiraz blend and is Yalumbas best red released each year. There are several previous notes from myself here on Delectable. Plummy, cedar black currant and cigar box - a trace of oak on nose and on the full bodied palate. Going strong at 15 years of age. I have 7 left from an original dozen and would like to have one per year until supplies are exhausted. I can’t see it changing much in the next few years. Not sure why more countries do not blend Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz - they are made for each other.

Hello everyone! It is Friday and we need to celebrate the weekend. So tonight I have started the celebration with the 2013 Yalumba The Signature Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz. The blend is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon and 46% Shiraz.

On the nose there is black cherry, black raspberry, black currant, mint, hints of meat, chocolate, spice and cedar.

Across my palate there are notes of black cherry, black raspberry, black plum, black currant, spice and graphite.

This is a full bodied wine with a drying mouthfeel medium + acidity and medium + fine sand paper tannins that leads to a long black fruit graphite finish. I wish everyone a wonderful weekend. Please stay safe and be healthy. Nostrovia! 🍷🍷🍷🍷

Mid to deep Ruby in colour with a tawny rim developing. Cassis and black currant with some woody and sage notes. On the palate sweet black fruits, plummy notes, some savouriness and oak spice. Good vitality and freshness for a 14 year old Cabernet Shiraz. Really enjoyed this - up there in quality with another great Cabernet Shiraz in Penfolds Bin 389. This wine will cruise through another 10 years with its inner strength I feel.

Easily one of the biggest surprises I’ve had in a long, long while. This showed remarkable restraint for an Aussie Cabernet/Shiraz blend. There was beautiful dark and red fruits: think black berries, mulberries, black currants and lingonberries. There’s also tobacco, smoked meat, lavender and spices. Beautiful texture. I wish I had more than this lone bottle. I have no doubt this will age gracefully through 2030. Simply fantastic.

At the Downs Club Magnum Dinner. The Signature is always Yalumbas best Cabernet Shiraz in any given vintage. Brief Notes. Aromas of blackberry and tobacco. Way too young. Could drink this in another 20 years if desired. Great potential.

Classic, always a banger from the Yalumba stables. Cabernet fruit certainly the driver here with beautiful black currant, cassis along with complimenting herbal aromatics. Touch of liquorice too. Oak overlay is there with toast, espresso and dark chocolate in toe but doesn’t dominate.

Yalumbas Signature Series always produces a faithful rendition of the Cabernet Shiraz blend - the Cab in the slight majority. Nose of mint and black fruits. Quite dense - still with a short term future despite some professional opinions on the drinking window. On the palate blackberry - soft tannins nearly fully resolved. Nearly as good as Penfolds Bin 389 without the cellaring future.