Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz

It derives from six of Yalumba’s best heritage vineyards in the Barossa, which date back to 1854. The cool, elevated vineyard sites of Eden Valley have contributed 69% of the blend. The rest comes from heirloom vineyards in the Barossa Valley. Combined, the average age of the vines is 111 years. After traditional vinification, the wine was matured in a combination of 25% new French oak (barriques & hogsheads) and one- year-old and seasoned French oak octaves, barriques and hogsheads. This Octavius vertical tasting review is the third time the winemakers at Yalumba and select media have tasted through all of the vintages. The first vintages were experimental wines. The 1988 Octavius was a Coonawarra cabernet, but subsequent vintages are Barossa shiraz based on heirloom vineyards. Throughout the 1990s, the winemaking team, headed up by Brian Walsh, experimented with fruit sourcing and oak maturation. The initial vintages were aged in 100% Yalumba-coopered American and French 100-litre oak octave barrels (supposedly an eighth of a standard cask). But nowadays, the wine is aged in a combination of Hungarian and French oak barriques and hogsheads. Then, after blending and before bottling, some parcels, 20–30%, are further aged in second-year octaves. Kevin Glastonbury, who took over winemaking in 1999, says, ‘We found that the oak pickup from Octaves was too powerful for the wine. Ultimately, this tasting shows the journey we have taken from one year to the next. I feel that The Octavius finds a voice from the 2006 vintage onwards.’ I think this is about right, but it also reflects the advances in viticulture and winemaking over the last 20 years. The 2018 vintage is a highwater mark and promises to take The Octavius into a new orbit around the sphere of grand cru type wines. It is the perfect vintage to release on La Place de Bordeaux in September this year. It will also be available through normal fine wine channels in Australia. The Octavius Shiraz is a small production cuvée of between 600 and 1200 dozen. No vintages were made in 1989, 1991, 2007 or 2011.