Earlier in the week, I regaled you (if that’s what you want to call it1) with my first taste of Yalumba’s young, exciting “The Scribbler”. While it is a better than average wine, it’s not really a write-home-about-it, cancel-your-plans-to-drink-some wine.
This gets a lot closer.
Yalumba, again, graces us with a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz from their native Barossa Valley. In addition to being four years older, the big difference between the Signature and the Scribbler is that the Scribbler is made with declassified grapes. Not so here, the Signature wine is made from Yalumba’s very best fruitstock.
And really, it shows. The wine is a dark purple in the glass, lightening to ruby at the edges. The nose is smooth and cool, with none of the alcohol heat that Cabs and Syrahs from California often suffer from. Whispers of blueberry and plum appear first, with just a hint of ripe red fruit (raspberry?) near the end. While fruit-forward, none of this comes off as sweet.
The fruit on the palate is soft, and mostly red. There is a slight hint of a tobacco earthiness, but it’s barely a mention, nothing more. There is real tannin structure here. The Signature has the slight roughness I would expect from a six-year-old wine that could stand to be laid down for much, much longer.
I don’t even think this wine is 100% ready to drink yet, but even so, it is impressive. I might have to get a bottle myself and test the theory!
Verdict: 91/100
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Ed note: I do↩