Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2016

It is with great pleasure we release our 56th Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz – a superb 2014 vintage that honours Chris Greening. We raise a glass of this wine to celebrate Chris’s years of service, commencing in 1989 as Sales Manager, S Smith & Son, Adelaide. Chris rose to State Manager, South Australia & NT in 1998, in 2016 this was coupled with managing Western Australia, before retiring in 2017.

Terroir & Site
The majority of the Cabernet Sauvignon components were sourced in the Barossa Valley from four main vineyards as well as one vineyard in Eden Valley. The diversity of our vineyard selection provides the rich lifted Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics and palate structure that the Signature is renowned for. The Shiraz components include plantings from as old as 1925, 1935 and 1945. These blocks are of sandy loam, featuring yellow sand and ochre clays over red clay. The combination of these Barossa blocks provides the Shiraz sweetness, fullness, depth and layers of complexity.

Winemaking & Viticulture
Vintage 2014 in Barossa produced some excellent aromatic and structured parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon. All parcels of fruit were fermented separately either in eight tonne open fermenters or six tonne static potter fermenters using wild yeasts. The wild yeast helped contribute to complexities in the wine, creating richness and fine textures. The open top fermenters use a cap plunger that slowly pushes the skins into the juice for a gentle extraction of colour and tannin. The grapes in the potters were fermented two ways. The first by irrigating the fermented juices over the skins, the second by draining all the juice away from the skins and then flooding it back. The various skin contact management on each individual batch allowed us to make a wine with excellent depth of colour, richness, texture and complexity.

Tasting Comments
This wine is medium to deep brick red in colour and opens with perfumed fruits, showing pretty blue exotic florals, pomegranate and cranberry, with milk chocolate and liquorice depth. The palate is medium weighted, with a fresh tight acidity carrying through. Very stylish, very approachable and very drinkable. Decant and enjoy with a char-grilled rump or eggplant steak with all the extras.

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