2012 The Caley Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

Outstanding vintage. Parcel of Coonawarra Cab and Barossa Shiraz stood out. 52% Cabernet from Menzies (Ming D block). Bergermeister block of Shiraz in Barossa (planted 1901), plus Horseshoe Block (planted 1975). Matured in 30% new French oak barriques, and older French and American oak. No remit for the blend, but wanted to enter top tier of Australian wines. 350 dozen bottled. Released May 2017. Beautifully concentrated, with a cordial-style blackcurrant fruit first and foremost. Super-sweet vanilla oak too. Pure and flawless in terms of fruit – very clean, polished and high resolution. Still full of primary fruit on the palate. The tannins are grainy but rounded, but the acid has a hardness. Very savoury leather and liquorice finish, but the juiciness of fruit dominates. It’s impressive in a monolithic sort of way, and perhaps needs longer in bottle to show more complexity. (RH)

79% Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Barossa Shiraz sourced from 'three outstanding vineyards'. The clay-based Ming D Block of the Yalumba Coonawarra vneyard planted in 1992 provided 52% of the Cabernet. The Shiraz is from a 1901 vineyard between Nuriootpa and Angaston and 27% of the blend is Cabernet from Yalumba's 1971 Horsehoe Block in Eden Valley. Spontaneous fermentation and aged for 22 months in 31% new French barriques, 22% one-year-old French barriques and the rest in older French oak. 500 cases made. Very deep crimson with glossy, well-integrated fruit that was spicy and even a little spiky on the finish. The Cabernet component was still a bit drying on the end. Robert Hill-Smith admitted that this debut vintage of what Yalumba intend as their flagship wine was going through a rather dumb stage. (JR)

Exquisitely composed, perfectly poised and impeccably structured, this is an exceptional wine that wine lovers of Yalumba have been waiting for 168 years. The compelling bouquet shows dark fruit, cocoa, clove, bay leaf, almond and violet aromas with nuances of black olive and truffle. The oak infusion is discreet and seamless. It is concentrated and beautifully weighted on the palate, and exhibits silky texture, fleshy mouthfeel and loads of fine, polished tannins. The wine is pristine, yet spectacularly complex, and flows effortlessly through the palate, gradually expanding to a gloriously long, engaging finish. 2012 The Caley is a blend of Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon and Barossa shiraz, matured in new and seasoned French oak barrels for 22 months.