Yalumba The Octavius Old Vine Shiraz 2012
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Robert
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Try with lamb shoulder and all the trimmings.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This is named for the small octaves coopered from French and American oak at Yalumba and used for aging half of the lot (the other half ages in used French oak barriques and hogsheads). The fruit is more Eden Valley than Barossa, selected from vines with an average age of 96 years. Those vines thrived in the relatively moderate conditions of 2012, producing fruit with flavors that keep unfolding through the wine in layers of silk. While the small barrels lend this wine a lot of French oak richness, the fruit is more powerful, or maybe it’s the texture and structure that dominates, creating a sense of refinement in the midst of tremendous flavor intensity. It feels cool and generous, not suppressed by weight but energized by bright touches of volatility and spice. This is one of the best vintages of Octavius Kevin Glastonbury has produced.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 The Octavius (Shiraz Old Vine) delivers intense notes of pure black cherries and crushed blackberries with suggestions of baking spices, Sichuan pepper and menthol. Medium-bodied, firm and taut in the mouth, it is still very youthful, with firm yet ripe, rounded tannins and a refreshing finish. While it is delicious right now, it would be a shame to open it at this primary stage. Give it another 4-5 years in cellar and drink it over the next twenty.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Named for the special format of small oak barrel it's aged in, this has soaked up the oak impressively. Hints of vanilla and graham crackers accent mixed berry fruit, while the finish is long and mouthwatering. There's ample concentration, yet the wine never seems heavy. Drinkable now, but why rush things? Drink 2020–2030.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
A bold, juicy, hearty blackberry and red-fruit nose that also carries a savory thread of slightly dusty oak and a ripe, tarry edge. The palate has almost sanguine notes to it with really dense, deep, compressed tannins and a wealth of blackberry flavors that hold long through the finish. Best from about 2020.
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Wine Spectator
Subtle and elegant, with polished tannins and an effortlessness to the blackberry, vanilla bean and black licorice details, lingering on the finish, where velvety tannins unfold. Drink now through 2026.
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Established in 1849, Yalumba is Australia’s most historic family-owned wine company showcasing the best of the Barossa and South Australian wine regions. Fiercely independent and extremely progressive through the generational ownership by the Hill-Smith family, their longevity and success are a result of patience, collaboration, and forward-thinking. Yalumba is a leader in the industry with the foresight to embrace the natural terroir to craft wines with individual character and a sense of purpose, as well as a spirit to reinvest in the land upon which it operates. Yalumba is committed to sharing stories of provenance gathered over 175 years of history of family winemaking.
Arguably the single most famous wine region in Australia, the Barossa includes both Barossa Valley and Eden Valley, making it one of the only areas in Australia to have neighboring warm and cool climate growing conditions. Yalumba is privileged to have access to some of the oldest vineyards in the world in Barossa Valley, including 1889 bush vine Grenache and 1908 Shiraz. They are committed to growing premium quality fruit reflecting distinctive varietal characters of the region.
Yalumba also operates the Southern Hemisphere's only fully operational Cooperage, crafting bespoke oak barrels that elevate the wines aged within them. While the beginnings of the Yalumba Cooperage remain a mystery lost in time, coopering has been a proud tradition at the winery for more than a century. Their coopers have been performing and perfecting their craft since around 1890. In the Nursery, Yalumba is a global leader in wine innovation, growing, evaluating, and supplying quality grape vines to the Australian wine industry. Yalumba has developed strong relationships with leading grapevine programs from around the world and have exclusive access to certain new varietals in Australia. This gives the Yalumba viticulturists and winemakers the unique opportunity to evaluate and develop new or emerging varieties before they are sold.
Yalumba continually strives to reduce their impact on the environment, stay involved in the community, and make great wine with minimal intervention in the vineyard and in the winery. They are committed to sustainable practices, with the belief that the healthier and more biodiverse the vineyards are, the better the wines will be. Yalumba has been developing its own sustainable viticulture program since the mid-1990s, promoting the economic production of quality grapes. For every acre of vineyard Yalumba own, they have at least one acre of native vegetation. All Yalumba wines are crafted with wild yeast, are 100% vegan, and are made with the least intervention possible but with as much knowledge, confidence, and expertise as possible.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The Barossa Zone encompasses the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. Some of the oldest vines in Australia can be found here.
Barossa Valley of course is the most important and famous wine growing region in all of Australia where 140+ year-old, dry-farmed Shiraz vines still produce inky, purple and dense juice for some of Australia's best wines.
In the cooler, wetter Eden Valley sub-region, the Hill of Grace vineyard is home to famous Shiraz vines from the 1800s but the region produces also some of Australia’s very best and age-worthy Rieslings.