Yalumba The Signature Cabernet-Shiraz 2015
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Winemaker Notes
This wine is medium to deep brick red in color and opens with perfumed fruits, showing blue exotic florals, pomegranate and cranberry, with milk chocolate and licorice depth. The palate is medium weighted with a fresh, tight acidity carrying through. Stylish, approachable and very drinkable. To enjoy this wine at its best we recommend decanting. Pair with beef fillet accompanied by beetroot and horseradish or pinto bean burgers with mushrooms and caramelized onions.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a very attractive, blackberry and red-plum nose with some leafy elements, as well as plenty of oak spice and hints of black tea. This has a fleshy, supple, bold and round palate. Very supple, sleek and long. Silky, yet sturdy. Very drinkable now and will last a good two decades. A vinous slam dunk!
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Decanter
Honoring Barossa vineyard manager Darrell Kruger’s service (since 1975), the expressive nose reveals blueberry fruit, eucalyptus hints and mocha oak. Dried herbs, licorice, chocolate, an ironstone tang and smoky espresso lend savory nuance to the sweet plum and tighter-knit blackcurrant and berry flavors. Creamy vanilla oak (18% new) sheathes the firm backbone of tannin on a sustained, savory and mineral finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This premium cuvée from Yalumba is classic Barossa. An almost 50-50 split of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, it is rich and muscular yet restrained and balanced. It weaves notes of chocolate, plums, cherries, licorice, olives and ground black pepper with sweeter, cola-like notes from aging in a variety of oak barrels. The fruit on the palate feels bright and fresh thanks to a nice line of acidity. It's supported by savory, textured tannins. Drink now, with protein at hand and until 2029 at least.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Yalumba's 2015 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz features complementary notes of cedar and cassis, vanilla and blackberries, mint and black olives. It's full-bodied and velvety in feel, with ample tannin but also a sense of generosity, and it has a long, grainy-textured finish. Concentrated and intense, it should age well for a decade and a half or more. This 46th vintage of The Signature has been dedicated to Darrell Kruger, Barossa vineyard manager for Yalumba since 1975.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I have always found the Yalumba Signature to be an eloquent blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. The 2015 vintage shows up nicely. TASTING NOTES: This wine is fresh, alive, and food-friendly. Pair its bright red fruit and chalky aromas and flavors with game birds. (Tasted: September 24, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
This is a lush cabernet that keeps a cool profile, enriched by dark fruit and tannins that taste of coffee and bitter chocolate, even as the structure feels lovely and restrained. The wine benefits considerably from time with air, giving itself more fully a day after it’s first opened. Cellar it for a year or two, then serve with grilled lamb.
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2018-
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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.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.