2012 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz
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Tasting notes
The 2012 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz hails from a lovely season that was blessed with even ripening, good yields and high quality. This is the Robert Hill-Smith vintage. The nose is pronounced, powerful and intense, with pomegranate molasses, black peppercorns, star anise and nori. In the mouth, the wine is concentrated and silky, with density of saturated fruit. It's a big wine, but all things are in balance. It was made with 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Shiraz, and 17% of the fruit was sourced from the Eden Valley, the balance Barossa Valley. It's a bigger wine than the 2009 tasted beside it, but it's impressively balance nonetheless. There was no Signature produced in 2011. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under cork, 6.7 total acidity, 3.52 pH.
Critic scores
Average Score
Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
James Halliday
More reviews and scores
Excellent purity and detail in this finely tuned 2012 The Signature. Initially quite a leafy expression lifted by red currants, freshly sawn cedar with a backbone of fruit pastille before aromas of wood smoke start to build. Classical palate with vibrant flavors tightly wound in a sea of fine yet firm tannins. A sleeper just starting to come of age with exceptional length to finish.
52% Cabernet, 48% Shiraz. Brilliant ruby colour. Very spicy with surely decongestant qualities. Only medium weight and the alcohol is very well tamed. Balsam notes. Grown-up stuff that finishes dry while expressing Barossa. Almost delicate. Very vibrant. (JR)
Robert Hill-Smith thinks this is ‘charismatic’, adding, 'We’ve been making these blends since the 1880s. Cabernet has a hole in the middle so we needed Shiraz to fill that hole.' Lots of Cabernet in evidence on the nose. Really provides something to chew on – as opposed to awkward tannins. Ample on the palate. Very glorious and complete. Great complete lift and breadth. (JR)
About the producer
Based in the tiny village of Angaston in the Barossa, South Australia, Yalumba is the country's oldest family-owned winery. The estate produces a broad range of wines from entry-level to ultra-premium, such as The Caley.