2019 Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

96 POINTS

Steve Leszczynski - QWine

After 24 years at Yalumba, it is great to see Kevin Glastonbury as a co-signatory on this Yalumba The Signature 2019. Perhaps the best producer of the famed Cabernet/Shiraz blend in the country, the impeccable consistency he has achieved with labels such as The Caley and The Signature deserves nothing but praise. This 2019 is another superb release. Following on from 2017 and 2018, Glastonbury says, "It continues the style where we have been working really hard to make The Signature as approachable on release as we can." That said, those who have had the wine in years gone by know full well that it cellars well too. Previous releases have demonstrated it keeps its depth, tannin and structure for over a decade. Spend some time with this in the glass and every box is ticked. Be it the aromatics, structure, balance and finesse, lovers of the Cabernet Shiraz (52/48) blend are in for a treat once again. The 2019 is a typical Signature blend and once again made from 100% Barossa Valley fruit. One of the highlights for me is the structure. It walks tall without varietal characteristics standing out - classy winemaking and blending indeed. Take a sip and it's all Shiraz before it then chisels to a Cabernet focus. Long and luscious black fruit and black currants frame a mi(more...)

96 POINTS

2024 Halliday Wine Companion

Since its first release in 1962, the Yalumba Signature cabernet/shiraz blend has shown a fine pedigree of cellar-worthy wines, and it looks like that bloodline will continue with the 2019 release. Nothing heavy or overblown, everything in its place, the confluence of fruit/tannin/acidity on song. Pop some in your glass or the cellar. You choose.

95 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

The palate is impossibly rich and soft, smooth and velvety, voluptuous but with great freshness and a minty lift. Hedonistic style, but the brightness is really appealing, and the wine has veered well away from its past dry, firm, somewhat taxing-in-youth structural styles. A light squeeze of tannin. It’s got Aussie classic written all over it. Delicious drinking for the bolder red lover, or others!"

95 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

Deep, dark, red-purple colour with aromas of cedar, spices, wood-oil and blackberry. A very full-bodied wine with lashings of tannin and very ripe, rich flavour. There's a core of sweet almost prune-like fruit. A big, solid and well-structured wine with a promising future. It's obviously been built to last.

94 POINTS

James Suckling

A full-weighted, archetypal Aussie blend. Cabernet and shiraz, both from the Barossa. The top wines of Yalumba have undergone considerable refinement in recent years. The tannins, better managed; the fruit, more restrained; the oak, judicious. Here, an example. Fresh and lithe. Scents of anise, bay leaf and kirsch, with a nourishing core of beef bouillon. An expansive sweetness grows in trajectory, with a douse of menthol at the finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

94 POINTS

Angus Hughson

This beautifully composed 2019 Cabernet & Shiraz The Signature from Barossa is built for the long haul but takes a little time to show its cards. It starts a little shy with cascading blackberry, mulberry and cedar aromas while stocky complexity from extended oak maturation shows. A lovely palate combines dense fruits, good underlying acidity and a firm bed of tannins. A fantastic conclusion, still keeping its shape and composure over a long, sustained finish.

93 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

his is an open-knit, polished and characterful bottling of The Signature, with heady, bright aromas of cherry chocolate, tomato pulp, red licorice and savory, earthy spices. The palate is powerful yet silky and harmonious, with chiseled, fine tannins, and lovely fruit purity and freshness. Still young and tightly wound now, it should cellar with grace for at least another seven to 10 years.