Yalumba, The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, Barossa

Drank like it was a 2010. So fresh and held it's texture for the 2 hours we had it open. Glad I've still got 2 more!

Double decanted, 1 hour. Cork cracked but still in 1 piece. Sediment in bottle. Cab 51% Shiraz 49%. Colour: still write dark considering age. Great year. Nose: nice perfumed and some mint Palate: great wine, still fruit driven, the shiraz shines without too jammy. Drink now than later.

Wow. Bang for buck this wine is still drinking incredible well. Very happy to have another couple still in the cellar. Years left in them, but drinking so well (fingers crossed on the corks) Wish I’d had time to decant but duck lasagne was waiting. Oak influence up front (vanilla) followed by cab dominant fruit and then some cedar/tannin. Palette followed similar pattern, but with can herbaceous further developing to show some shiraz spice influence. If there’s a criticism it’s …

Beautiful beautiful wine at 21 years old. The star of all of my 1998’s. Maybe a freak bottle. I will drink my last two over the next 12 months though.

Cork was broken halved. Decanted for an hour. Colour: surprisingly doesn't look like 20 yrs old wine. Still quite dark with some little brown edge. Nose: at opening, very nice sweet berry Shiraz After an hour, it turned into more earthy soil mushroom Palate: initial palate is very light medium with almost no tannin, however after decanted it turned into concentrated slight menthol and tannin developed slightly. Can taste that it is cabsav Shiraz but More influenced from the cabsav. …

Oaky nose, still lots of alcohol. Quite concentrated. Blackberry and plum. Palate has oak, slightly short. A hint of dark chocolate bitterness, fine tannin prevalent at the front of the palate only. Front palate is where the action happens, mid to back palate it falls away a bit. Typical yalumba oak. Real effort to work the fruit flavours but it's there. Possibly better approximately 5 years ago - more fruit and length? This bottle may not have been cellared ideally, …

Absolutely sublime. The 'official' drinking window for this is 2005-2015 but this shows no signs of fading at present. If you have multiple bottles of this you are lucky, lucky, lucky. Wish I had more! Perfectly integrated oak. Nice balance of Cab & Shiraz. Tons of sediment. Dark ruby red with minimal bricking. Enjoy!

Decanted 30 minutes. Big Barossa nose, molasses, blackberry compote, grape Jolly Rancher, black plum, black currants, earth/dusty clay. The palate is very youthful and still has strong acidity, creamy purple fruit, and roasted game. Drinks well now, but I'd save it for a few years. Drink 2016-2020.

Marvelous savory nose on this, plenty of vanilla from the oak but its all nicely resolved and for my preference works brilliantly with Thanksgiving lunch. These Aussie wines from the late 90s seem to be available for a song here and there, and this continues the happy streak from the Penfolds Bin 398 from the same vintage.

Decanted for 1hr 30min before first sip. Still very dark with hints of red brick, fine dusty tannins, old leather and tobacco box aromas with undertones of dark chocolate. Beautiful. Great drinking now but probably still 2 or 3 more years to improve.

Great nose. Rich, deep, and a little ripe. A bit clipped on the finish.

Opened up one of Eric's bottles stored in my cellar tonight. A wonderful wine, but the most memorable part is the incredibly rich and long finish. We decanted it for an hour before our first sip and then another hour before we started drinking it. Quite impressive.

Retailer Tasting (Sydney) : Overt oak and cinnamon nose in the old-fashioned style. A touch of herbaceous greenness from the cabernet, presumably; tannins are strong and lack polish. Medium-full bodied wine which is a bit country-bumpkin somehow. Lacks balance of better vintages.