Yalumba was founded in 1849 by Samuel Smith, British migrant and English brewer, who had brought his family to Angaston seeking a new life. After purchasing a 30-acre parcel of land just beyond the southern-eastern boundary of Angaston, Smith and his son began planting the first vines by moonlight. Samuel named his patch "Yalumba" – aboriginal for "all the land around". Five generations and 160 years later Yalumba, Australia's oldest family owned winery, has grown in sizeand stature, embodying all that has made the Australian wine success story the envy of winemakers the world over.

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.

Opaque core leading into a deep purple rim. Blackberry, tobacco leaf, graphite and violets leap from the glass. Wonderful density of black and blue fruits creates a base upon which layers of savoury complexity are built. Graphite and tobacco leaf sit at the fore, then notes of cedar and anise shine through. Wrapped in firm but well integrated tannins that provide ample tension and drive, ensuring a long finish that is focused and precise. Many years ahead of this wine. Date: Dec 2025; Alcohol: 14.5%; Drink: 2025-2041; Rating: 96 Points; The Real Review

We might be yet to learn who is to be honoured with the 2023 Signature, but whomsoever it is should be well pleased. This is a cracking release, one of their best. An opaque centre with a dark maroon rim, there is still vanillin oak evident on the nose, but it is integrating well. The aromas include notes of dried herbs, black fruits, graphite, licorice, mocha, chocolate, plums and cassis. This is balanced, youthful, offering real persistence and coiled power. The palate sees the move to gorgeous chocolate notes. A wine with serious length, there is much to love here. Date: Feb 2026; Rating 96 Points; Ken Gargett; Wine Pilot

This is a particularly good example of why cabernet and shiraz go so well together. Apart from structure and flesh, the combination of dark and red berry flavours, fruit sweetness and leafy herb notes, are just so complementary. This wine is the perfect exhibit: the fruit is fresh and flavoursome at once, not to mention of noteworthy purity. There’s cedarwood oak here too, but its integration is entire, and it has latched on to nuances of tobacco. Yalumba’s Signature pretty much never misses, and this release certainly hasn’t. Fruit, tannin, length and all-round harmony; all are in top nick. Date: Dec 2025; Alcohol: 14.5%; Closure: Cork; Drink: 2028-2040+; Rated: 95 Points; Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front