2018 Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz 1500ml

97 POINTS

Georgina Hindle - Decanter

Fragranced and aromatically complex on the nose - beguiling and totally captivating red berries, clove, vanilla, liquorice and wild herbs. This has an inky density to it, weighty and fully textured but with amazing purity of fruit. Bright and piercing acidity adds to the overall expression with tannins that are refined yet carry a sense of opulence and seduction. Clean and sleek, wide, full and mouthwatering with liquorice, cherry blossom and strawberry fruit all the way through. Delicious.

97 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

Yalumba's flagship offering is made from shiraz split across vineyards in the Barossa and Eden Valleys with an average age of 80 years. A portion is matured for 23 months in 30% new French oak barriques and hogsheads and the balance in one-year-old (and older) American octaves, French barriques and hogsheads. Deep crimson with ripe blackberry, black cherry, satsuma plum and blueberry fruits cut with baking spices, vanillin oak, cedar, licorice, dark chocolate, clove and violets. The fruit glistens on the palate, beautifully weighted and graceful in its shape, with ripe tannins melting into the wine and a shimmering acidity that provides cadence and shines a light on the pristine fruit. This will cellar beautifully, but my goodness it is lovely to drink at the moment. Another epic Octavius release.

96 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

After the cool vintage of 2017, perhaps out of the box for Octavius in style, this is a thunderous return. Eden Valley makes up 30% of the wine, Barossa Valley the rest. Vine age sits somewhere around 111 years of age for the mix of plantings. French oak in various sizes, about 20 months in time there and about 25% new oak. Very mellow, soft, round and dark fruited with gentle woody spices, some old leather notes, mahogany, dark chocolate all molten over stewed plums, figs, hazelnut. So much going on in scents and flavours. Very warming, concentrated but without overtness and boot polish potency. It’s got immense charm, wonderful balance, palate-staining characters and all of it even and good. A touch breathy through the finish would be the quibble, but it sits well in the wine, you could say. Lush and lovely and luxe.

95 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

This 2018 Shiraz The Octavius, made from 67% Barossa Valley and 33% Eden Valley fruit, is a powerhouse and bold edition of Octavius thanks to its lashings of black cherry, blackberry, and new leather with subtle touches of pepper and sage. Bold yet manicured, it displays punchy sweet-fruited flavors with some savory meat stocks in the background, which will build in time. Firm tannins are nicely balanced over a long but closed finish suggesting this wine will be best enjoyed after at least a decade’s rest.

93 POINTS

Ned Goodwin - JamesSuckling.com

Old vine Barossan shiraz from a stellar vintage, boasting a lilt of damson, violet and black olive. Rich and lustrous, with a carriage of well wrought tannins directing solid length. The caveat, the eucalyptus across the finish. For some, this is a mark of Australiana. For others, such as myself, it is a drying agent. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

90 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

Despite a bit of bottle age, this is still a young, powerful red. There's a layer of chocolatey, toasty oak influence currently sitting quite prominently atop the supple blackberry and plum and savory spice notes. It's rich and mouth-filling, with a big lift of acidity and powerful, granular tannins. Needs protein and decanter now but will evolve for several decades.