This is a wine of character and soul and of the past and present. It does the past proud by showing us all how good these traditional Cabernet Shiraz blends can be. It smells and tastes of the Barossa. It smells and tastes of Cabernet and Shiraz. It drinks well now but will also age for many years to come. There is blackberry, earth, spice and dark chocolate on the nose and palate. The palate is well balanced and rounded. The Cabernet component gives this wine a firmness and structure. The Shiraz gives it volume and body. 95 points Anthony D'Anna
"The 2004 The Signature is composed of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon and 46% Shiraz. It was aged for 22 months in French, Hungarian, and American oak, 50% new. Opaque purple-colored, it presents a perfume of pain grille, earth, tar, vanilla, pepper, blueberry, and blackberry. Opulent on the palate, it has gobs of ripe fruit, complexity, superb balance, and exceptional length. It will improve over the next 8-10 years in the cellar and drink well through 2030." 94 points - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate (USA), 31 October 2007
Two years in oak, two years in bottle - then it's released. Sounds like an excellent regime for a super-premium, ageworthy Aussie red. This release is an excellent Signature, full of strong, minty, mulberried flavour and packed with blackberried depth. It's fresh for its oak and only moderately clipped by toasty, fragrant oak. No alarms, no surprises - just a really good, hearty, structured red. Drink: 2014-2023. 94 points. Campbell Mattinson, The Winefront
The Signature has been around for over forty years and has developed a strong loyal following, very much due to its consistency of style, and sustained high quality. A sentimental favourite, with a heritage deeply rooted in Barossan viticulture, it has an ability to unravel a myriad of flavours when enjoyed in it's youth, and to age gracefully in the bottle, offering great varietal flavours, intensity and genuine value for a wine with such history and pedigree. "The rich berry aromas and flavours combine beautifully with the top-quality oak. Lester Jesberg
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.
