By Christine Salins.
Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blends are quintessentially Australian. One of the benchmarks for the style is The Signature, produced by Yalumba since 1962. This iconic wine has a loyal following of customers who appreciate it for its intensity, power and longevity.
This is definitely a wine to put down in the cellar, though in recent years it has been made to be a little more approachable on release. Still, it’s one of those wines that people buy year after year, knowing that they’re getting a quality wine with an interesting back story.
Every vintage of The Signature acknowledges someone who has enhanced the traditions and culture of the family-owned company. The first one, from the 1962 vintage, carried the name of Yalumba’s founder, Samuel Smith.
Since then, the honour has gone to winery staff, family members, grape growers and others who have contributed to the company’s success. The signatory is traditionally announced at a staff Christmas party on the lawns outside the old cellars of the winery in the Barossa Valley.
At the last Christmas party, Yalumba’s fifth-generation proprietor, Robert Hill-Smith, announced that the May release of 2018 The Signature would be dedicated to managing director Nick Waterman, who has worked for Yalumba in a variety of roles since 2003. Fittingly, the announcement came just months ahead of news that he would retire in September.
Hill-Smith said Waterman’s leadership had been “impactful in all roles, but more particularly of late as a strong reformer and decision-maker and fearless implementer of transformational initiatives across (the) company. For our family, he has been a safe pair of hands and his loyalty to the success of the company has been profound.”
For his part, a humbled Waterman said that when he joined Yalumba, he was struck by “the culture, the commitment and the pride in the business” demonstrated by its employees
“In the early days, looking at the names adorned on the barrels in The Signature Cellar, I was in awe. Not only of the history and the people, but the humility of and the respect that the (Hill-Smith) family has for the employees of the business,” he said.
For a collectable wine with a 60-year track record, The Signature is good value, especially when compared with the $100+ price tags many other cellar-worthy wines command. It’s an old school blend … in the nicest possible way.
Yalumba 2018 The Signature, $65: From an excellent vintage in the Barossa, dense red in colour, vibrant aromas of cedar and mint, and generous flavours of blueberries, plums and red berries. Vanilla, cinnamon and dark chocolate notes add to the complexity. With fine tannins and a long finish, it is both elegant and powerful (14.5% ABV). No problem cellaring this for 15 to 20 years. Interestingly, it is bottled under cork, thus appealing to die-hard cork lovers.
