Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon ‘The Signature’ 2018

Introduction

An impressive star of the 2018 vintage. Medium deep, dense, red in colour. Cool, fresh aromas of perfumed mints, blueberry, small red berries and red spicy cedar notes. Some leafy aromatics appear as the wine opens up over time. A refined and complex palate that is delightfully fresh with seamlessly integrated oak. Generous red berry fruit is wrapped in finely honed tannins. A medium to full bodied wine with a long, flowing tannin profile. A very refined Signature.

Blend: 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Shiraz

96 Point s- Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

The 2018 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz (the 48th vintage) is named for Nick Waterman (managing director and CEO of Yalumba 2015 – 2022). The 2018 vintage in South Australia (and specifically here, Barossa) was an excellent one: ripe/warm, even and long and produced wines with density, energy and gravitas. This is exactly that: plush and powerful. The fruit forms a perfect dovetail: the enveloping, mouth-filling abundance of the Shiraz, neatly wedged into the folds of the structuring and shapely Cabernet. Very impressive. This is one of the more impressive Signatures in recent times. It will cellar with grace and ease.

95 Points – Decanter

Ideal vintage conditions set the stage for this impressive blend worth waiting for after no Signature was released in 2017. Polished and showy from the off, it exudes concentrated, ripe red plum and boysenberry aromas, with a whiff of vanilla and cedar. There’s a caramel oak sweetness on the palate, like a plush velvet-textured cloak over dense, herbal bramble fruit, supported by fine chocolatey tannins and balancing acidity. Vibrant yet forceful.

94 Points – James Suckling

Inviting aromas of blackcurrant, sliced plum, graphite, crushed stone and bark. Full-bodied with silky tannins. Structured and elegant, with a bevy of red and black fruit washing over the palate with steady intensity. Subtle baking-spice complexity and some oak is laced into the solid core of fruit. Long.

91 Points – Wine Spectator

Impressive for its polish and elegant, seamless frame, with cedar, tobacco and spice notes adding warmth to the core of plum and cassis. Offers details of fig, fresh mint and pepper on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Drink now.