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Yalumba The Signature Barossa Cabernet Shiraz 2005 Two years in oak, then two years in bottle prior to release - it’s a lovely approach. There’s something old-fashioned about the flavour of Yalumba’s Signature red blend … and I mean that in the most positive of ways. As a young-ish wine there isn’t a great deal to it - but then, it’s made to be aged. It has a lovely mix of dusty, briary, curranty flavours and more robust, chocolatey oomph, the blend of cabernet and shiraz leaning towards the former in terms of flavours, though with excellent support. It has fine tannin and enough flavour - though there’s also an (attractive) sense of lightness here. If you usually like Yalumba’s Signature blend you will like this - it’s not overdone, it’s medium-bodied in a classical way. Drink : 2012 - 2017 94 points Campell Mattinson, The Winefront The 2005 Signature is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon and 46% Shiraz aged for 22 months in French, American, and Hungarian oak, 31% new. Purple-colored, it emits an alluring perfume of cedar, leather, spice box, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. On the palate it shows off an elegant personality, incipient complexity, succulent fruit, ripe tannin, and a pure finish. It will continue to unfold for several years and offer prime drinking from 2011 to 2020. 92 points Jay Miller, Wine Advocate # 181 Feb 2009 Grapes were hand picked and crushed to 8 tonne open top stainless steel fermenters. The natural or 'wild' yeasts present on the grape skins were allowed to initiate the sugar fermentation. Cultured winery yeasts were then added to complete this fermentation. Fermentation and cap/skin management was controlled by the Yalumba designed cap plunger. The result is a wine with excellent depth of colour, richness and complexity. The grapes for ‘The Signature’ are sourced from vineyards within the Eden Valley and Barossa Valley regions. The vines are all mature with yields generally between 2 and 5 tonnes per hectare. Soil types vary from red brown earth over red clay, sandy loam over clay to sandy soils. Lifted redcurrant, warm exotic fruits and dark chocolate combine with subtle eucalypt flavours. The wine has a generous yet stylish palate, showing dark plums, cassis, chocolate and long fine tannins giving a wine structured for ageing. The wine will reward with medium to long term cellaring. Beginning with the 1962 vintage, The Signature wines of Yalumba have saluted the very best of the vintage. They also have acknowledged the skills and dedicated service of people who have enhanced the traditions and culture of Yalumba. The Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blend is a distinctively Australian style, and The Signature has set the benchmark for this iconic style, drawing heavily on Yalumba's great Barossa resource of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz vineyards. Deep and intense, the wine displays full palate weight with powerful fruit and soft American oak which was hand-coopered at Yalumba - a wine made for longevity, very much The Signature style. Yalumba have been blending Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz in ‘The Signature’ wines since 1962. The idea for ‘The Signature’ Series was born when, at the annual dinner of the Stock Exchange of Adelaide, the Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies stood with a glass of Yalumba red wine in his hand and said "Gentlemen, this is the finest Australian wine I have ever tasted." The wine became know as 'The Menzies' and was the inspiration for ‘The Signature’ series. Since that time, 37 individuals have become ‘signatories’ in recognition of their contribution to the culture and tradition of Yalumba. An Australian Classic, dating back to 1962, but deriving from Sir Robert Menzies' declaration at a lunch in Adelaide that the '61 Special Vintage Galway Claret was 'the finest Australian wine I have ever tasted'. A blend of 65 per cent Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and 35 per cent old-vine Barossa Shiraz; it spends 24 months in American oak prior to bottling but never seems to be overwhelmed by it. James Halliday As befits the Hill Smith family, headed by the imperious Robert Hill Smith, this label has an illustrious history dating abck to 1962. James Halliday