Region of production: South Australia
Winery Location: Eden Valley
Year Established: 1849

Vineyard Holdings

150 ha

  • additional sourcing from various Barossa and Coonawarra vineyards

Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages

  • The Octavius Old Vine Shiraz (1990)
  • The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Blend (1962)
  • The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Average Total Production

  • 11,160,000 bottles

Summary

Yalumba hails as Australia’s oldest family-owned winery, founded by Samuel Smith, who first vines planted in 1849. Fifth generation Robert-Hill Smith runs the winery currently, and chief winemaker Louisa Rose leads the five-member winemaking team. Yalumba is unique to Australian wineries, having established their own on-site nursery in the 1970’s that supplies vines and rootstock to much of Australia. The winery also has an on-site cooperage. Yalumba imports seasoned staves from France, Hungary, and the US and makes the barrels in their cooperage. This allows the winery to make their unique 100-litre “octaves,” made especially for their benchmark old-vine Shiraz, The Octavius. The winery sources the majority of its fruit from Barossa and Coonawarra, and fruit for The Octavius is sourced from multiple old-vine Barossa vineyards. The winery’s large production includes an extensive range that includes less common wines such as Tempranillo, Pinot Grigio, and botrysized Viognier.


Style & Vinification Techniques

Both cultivated and indigenous yeasts strains are used for fermentation, depending on the wine. Red wines are fermented in open-top fermenters and aged in a combination of new and used French and American oak barrels made on-site.

Producer Website: Yalumba