The Heritage
With five generations and 160 years of
history, Yalumba is Australia’s oldest family-owned winery. In 1849 Samuel
Smith departed his hometown of Wareham, Dorset with his wife Mary and four
children to Port Adelaide, and after a short time there, settled north in a
small town called Angaston.
Samuel worked as a gardener for the Angas
family and planted his own vineyard with son Sidney. In 1852 Samuel went for
the goldfields of NSW and Victoria, returning four months later with £300 of
gold, and purchased 80 acres of land, two horses and a harness, and a year
later Yalumba’s first wine was released.
By 1858 Samuel was dominating the local
wine shows. In 1908 brothers Walter and Percy Smith built the Yalumba
Clocktower, which took two years to construct. In 1929 Yalumba’s Port was
enjoyed by Sir Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Research Expedition.
By 1938 Wyndham Hill-Smith, the fourth
generation, was called back to manage his family business after both his father
and elder brother died in the year. In 1966 The Signature, a Cabernet Sauvignon
and Shiraz blend, was released, in recognition of all the people contributing
to the success of Yalumba.
By 1977, in view of the changing tastes of
Australian drinkers, Yalumba renovated its old brandy bond store into a Wine
Room and also held its first Museum Library Tasting. In 1985 Robert Hill-Smith
took over the helm as Managing Director at the age of 34, instigating a
complete buy-out of all other family shareholders, and insisted on growing
varietals matched to terroir, plus building a team of talented young
individuals.
By 1998, after two decades of
experimentation with Viognier, Yalumba released its first vintage of The
Virgilius Viognier, by the young winemaker Louisa Rose, who is now the most influential
maker of Viognier in the world.
In 2009 a group of 12 family owned wineries
collaborated to create Australia’s First Families of Wine, a multi-generational
group of exceptional Australian winemakers, and to showcase to the world the
quality of Australian wines.
By 2015, Nick Waterman becomes the only
second non-family member to take on the role of Managing Director after 12
years overseeing the company’s distribution in ANZ.
The Region
Yalumba has vineyards in many regions,
including Barossa, Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully and
South Australia, producing different wines in a range of styles. Barossa is
arguably the most famous wine region in Australia, including both Barossa
Valley and Eden Valley, making it one of the only areas to have neighboring
warm and cool climate.
Yalumba also has access to some of the
oldest vineyards in the world. In the prized Coonawarra region lies Yalumba’s
Menzies Vineyard, producing premium quality Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sustainability
Yalumba has been developing its sustainable
viticulture program since mid-1990s, starting in the vineyard and extending to
every aspect of winemaking, production, packaging and distribution. All the
wines are announced vegetarian and vegan friendly as of 2011, and Yalumba is
also the first wine company in the world to receive the Climate Protection
Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2007.
The estate has set aside hundreds of
hectares of land for conservation management, and for every hectare of vineyard
they own, there is at least a hectare of natural vegetation, and thousands of
trees are planted. Biodiversity is also encouraged through the reduction of
chemicals used, integrated pest management system and encouragement of
biodiversity of vegetation in vineyards.
Winemaker
Louisa Rose is the chief winemaker since
2006, and during her 20-year career in Yalumba has become one of the world’s
most respected winemakers, particularly in forging an identity for Australian
Viognier. Kevin Glastonbury joined Yalumba in 1999, now being Senior Red
Winemaker, with deep knowledge of Barossa through hands-on approach, as well as
sourcing and purchasing of oak for the barrels.
Peter Gambetta joined in 2002 and is
responsible for making the Rare & Fine collection from Coonawarra, focusing
on every details in the winemaking process. Sam Wigan plays an integral part in
the emerging varieties such as Vermentino, Tempranillo, Verdejo and Garganega. Natalie
Cleghorn joined in 1999, with experience in small and large volume production
and a love for the noble varieties, in particular Cabernet Sauvignon and
Grenache.
Heather Fraser started working in Yalumba’s
laboratory in 1999, and then quickly moved into the Trainee Winemaker
programme, and recently taken the responsibility for the organic collection. Jane
Ferrari is the wine communicator at large, helping to bring to life the Yalumba
story and the philosophies on viticulture, winemaking and the environment.
Cooperage
Yalumba crafted their own barrels and is
the only winery in the southern hemisphere having its own cooperage. Kevin
Glastonbury selects the oak himself to ensure an abundance of flavor, importing
staves from the best forests in the world, then fashion into oak barrels that
are fired to toast the wood to a long, medium, slow toast. Shaun Gibson is the
master cooper.
Nursery
The Nursery at Yalumba is a specialist
varietal, clonal and rootstock provider to Australian wine growers, researching
vine health, sustainability and future of wine community. One of the proud and
significant creation is the Viognier.
I have recently tasted the 2006 Octavius
and below is my tasting note:
Appearance
Bright
and clear, it has deep ruby color, with fading rims and legs.
Nose
Clean, with
medium (+) intensity of black fruit of black fruit such as blackberry and
blackcurrant, pungent spice of black pepper, kernel notes of chocolate, mineral
notes of earthy, herbal notes of eucalyptus, oak notes of vanilla, animal notes
of game. The wine is developing.
Palate
Dry,
with medium acidity, medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, the wine
has medium alcohol and full body, demonstrating medium (+) intensity flavors of
black fruit of blackcurrant and blackberry, oak notes of vanilla, pungent spice
of black pepper. The wine has a medium finish.
Conclusion
Very
good quality Australian Shiraz with a surprisingly elegant style, on the nose
it has good intensity and complexity, while on the palate it did not show any
of the overpowering alcohol or flavors that are so typical in many of the
region’s wines. The good concentration and elegance makes the wine highly
enjoyable, and if only the length could be longer this wine would be a
candidate to go into the excellent category. Ready to drink now, it can benefit
from further ageing of another 4-6 years.
Appearance
