Yalumba The Virgilius Eden Valley Viognier 2019
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Australian Wine
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Robert
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James
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Winemaker Notes
This is Yalumba's flagship white wine. The Virgilius Viognier is often regarded as Australia's benchmark Viognier. This elegant wine will take you on an aromatic journey as it evolves in the glass.
Lifted ginger spice is layered on the palate with mineral, sourdough-like texture, apricots, and almond savories. The hallmark Viognier texture of the palate is clearly evident in this wine. It is complex while at the same time shows purity and restraint that will unwind slowly in the glass and take the imbiber on a sensory journey.
Vegan-Friendly
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
Yalumba has firmly positioned itself at the pointy end of the Australian viognier hierarchy with its Virgilius. It's a style more in line with the wines of the northern Rhône than the usual overtly apricotty numbers we often see from the Antipodes. Steely and textural with savoury-shaped stone fruits and a light dusting of apricot and citrus fruits, along with notes of marzipan, dried honey and light ginger spice. It boasts a savoury, stony palate shape and a light tweak of phenolics on the finish, which is fruit-pure and enduring.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 The Virgilius Viognier is generally accepted as being one of the best Viogniers in the country (there are a handful of wines in this group), and it manages a range of briny acidity and chalky phenolics balanced on a fulcrum of sweet summer apricot, white flowers and green apples. Really smart.
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James Suckling
This has a complex nose of burnt lemon, grapefruit, beeswax, dried jasmine, chamomile, salted lime slices and pineapple. It’s medium- to full-bodied with sleek, saline layers. Bright acidity. Fresh and elegant.
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Wine Spectator
A supple, elegant white, with generous and pure ripe Crenshaw melon, apricot and lemon curd flavors at the core. Delivers details of candied ginger peel, peach blossoms and lemon verbena that linger on the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is an opulent, multifaceted vintage of Virgilius—lemon-hued and wafting saline and floral aromas of honeysuckle, struck match, white peach and lemon oil. The palate is more about texture than flavor: rich and creamy with just enough acidity to keep it fresh. Highly food friendly, it drinks well now and should hold up well until 2028.
Other Vintages
2020-
Australian Wine
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Wine
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James
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Wine
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James
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Robert
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Wine
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James
Suckling -
Wilfred
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James
Suckling
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James
Suckling -
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Spectator -
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Wine &
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
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Robert
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Wine &
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Wine &
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Robert
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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.
Full-figured and charmingly floral, Viognier is one of the most important white grapes of the northern Rhône where it is used both to produce single varietal wines and as an important blending grape. Look for great New World examples from California, Oregon, Washington and cooler parts of Australia. Somm Secret—Viognier plays a surprisingly important role in the red wines of Côte Rôtie in the northern Rhône. About 5% Viognier is typically co-fermented with the Syrah in order to stabilize the color, and as an added benefit, add a subtle perfume.
Higher in elevation and topographically more dramatic than the Barossa Valley floor, Eden Valley abuts it to its south and east. While it is a bit of an extension of Barossa, Eden Valley is topographically different than the pastoral Barossa Valley, and is composed of rocky hills and eucalyptus groves.
Recognizing Eden Valley’s potential with Riesling in the 1960s and 70s, producers started to move their Riesling production from Barossa to these better sites where schist soils on hilltops would produce more steely, tart and age-worthy examples. A most famous site, planted by Colin Gramp, called Steingarten, today produces one of the most outstanding Australian Rieslings. Youthful Eden Valley Rieslings express floral, grapefruit and mineral, while with time in the bottle, they become increasingly toasty and complex.
Riesling isn’t the only grape the region can grow; undeniably at lower altitudes Shiraz does very well. Mount Edelstone is a notable vineyard as well as the Hill of Grace, which boasts healthy Shiraz vines well over 100 years old. This is the only Australian region where Merlot has a made a name for itself and Chardonnay can be spectacular, particularly from the High Eden subregion in the southern valley.