This is not only the greatest wine to ever emerge from the hallowed halls of Yalumba, it is categorically the finest exemplar of the great Australian blend of the modern era, and the equal of the greatest in history. Kevin KG Glastonbury’s relentless fanaticism has fused Coonawarra cabernet with Barossa shiraz (26%) to perfection, and I use this word very deliberately. While I was not alive at the time to have the privilege of tasting it in its youth, it has perhaps not been since Max Schubert’s legendary 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A that this union has been mastered with such breathtaking harmony. Since its inaugural release a decade ago, The Caley has set the standard for refinement in cabernet shiraz, reincarnating the Coonawarra/Barossa blends of Yalumba of a half-century ago to become the first wine to win Matthew Jukes and my The Great Australian Red competition four times with three vintages, each of which I scored 98-99 points. 2021 embraces this profound legacy and takes it further to establish an all-new benchmark. It elevates this distinguished label by effortlessly contrasting greater depth of black fruits, higher lift of violet fragrance, more energetic, cool season acidity and more profound confidence of tannins that are at once finer and more velvety and yet somehow stronger, more rigid and more enduring - the pinnacle of KG’s life work. I have bestowed a perfect score on an Australian table wine only once in the past decade, and The Caley 2021 is every bit deserving. Be sure to be first in line when it is unleashed on 1 May 2026. 100 points. Drink 2041-2071.
99 POINTS
Ken Gargett - Winepilot
It might be suspicion only but one feels that our venerable old Barossa producer, Yalumba, may have felt that, as impressive as its portfolio of wines is, the world did not see them having a release which challenged the Granges and the Hills of Grace and a surprising number of new releases at ridiculously high and arguably undeserved prices. Enter this wine, although it still sits well below how others when we start talking cost, but then that is only to its advantage. They opted for the great Aussie red blend to take it away from the usual single variety rock stars. It is also a blend of regions with the Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra and the Shiraz from the Barossa. There have been some absolutely superb releases of this wine over the years but for me, none better than this 2021. It is a superstar. Under cork. Gleaming blood red/maroon, the nose reveals notes of bright cherries, tobacco leaves, spices, well integrated oak, plums, blackberries, aniseed, cassis and beef stock. It is subtle and seductive, generous and plush, offering a fine line of acidity in great length. There are silky tannins on the lingering finish. Superbly focused, this is surely the best Caley to come my way (and I have seen them all). Stonkingly good, if one wishes to get technical. Thirty years with ease.
99 POINTS
Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion
At this viewing (and we are a long way off from this wine's intended release), we are in for a very special wine – Yalumba's flagship, from the excellent 2021 vintage. It is a picture of elegance and fruit power in one package. There is a glass-staining deep crimson colour for starters. The fruit, seemingly reduced to an essence, is all blackberry, cassis, black cherry and dark plum. Hints of deep spice, blackforest cake, licorice, cedar, tobacco pouch, bouquet garni, black olive tapenade, pencil shavings, roast beef, earth, veal glace and dark chocolate. The tannins are powdery, layered and in perfect resolution, the oak sitting simpatico with the deep fruit, the finish stretching out for a considerable length of time. The best Caley release thus far for mine.
98 POINTS
Stuart Knox - The Real Review
Deep and bright ruby red with a hint of purple shining in the light. Blackberry, mint, dark chocolate and graphite aromatics. The palate is a true delight, showing intensity with poise as it reveals a multitude of facets. Dark berry fruits sit at the centre, with cedar wood, cigar, graphite and bay leaf ebbing and flowing as it drives along. The contrast between effortless intensity and a sense of lightness is remarkable, carried mostly by tannins that show both power and grace. As it reaches an almost never-ending finish, the interplay of characters remains in perfect harmony. (74% Coonawarra cabernet, 26% Barossa shiraz)
97 POINTS
Tom Kline - Winepilot
Elegant and restrained, showing class from the outset. Dusty cedar, cassis and blood plum open before unfurling into tilled earth, graphite and gravel. Further air adds bay leaf, mulch, black pepper, cocoa powder, dark cherry and blackberry. It’s brimming with precise, layered complexity. The palate is suave and assured, gliding through with elegance, restraint and brilliant intensity. Never weighty, with black fruits intermingling with earth and spice complexity once more. Cocoa powder–coated, tight-grained tannins put up a lovely, elegant frame. The acidity is like lightning, shooting through the finish with vim and vigour to great length. Balance and complexity here will see this wine age beautifully. A powerful, serious release.
97 POINTS
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2021 The Caley Cabernet Shiraz hails from an excellent year in South Australia. The season was warm but not hot (in fact, it has been described as cool, although I think "mild" and "benign" are more accurate terms) and offered both growers and makers the opportunity to get the best of their vineyards and produce some of the best wines possible. These should be exceptionally long-lived wines. So here, the 2021 The Caley Cabernet Shiraz leads with a nose of deep dark chocolate, dark fruits, mahogany and black olive tapenade. In the mouth, the tannins are both intense and profuse, encasing the fruit at this early stage yet promising many years in the future to come. This is persistent and long, powerful and concentrated. Sealed under Diam and wax.
97 POINTS
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front
Yalumba The Caley, at its best, is a magnificent wine. Of course it’s pretty much always, every release, at its best – here. There was no release of The Caley from either the 2017 or 2020 vintages. The power of the palate, the length of the finish, and the long curls of tannin are the hallmarks of greatness here. And yet what really excited me about this release was the hit of garrigue-like herb notes, combined with saltbush itself, combined with black olive tapandade. This wine is not just a tidal wave of sweet fruit; far from it. It’s a cabernet-shiraz blend but it comes across, really, as a great cabernet, all authority, all inky fruit, all tannin and all fragrance. The integration of fruit and oak is a masterclass, as is the deep creek of tannin. In the style of a great Australian red, this wine is as good as anything.
Matthew Jukes
I am infinitely grateful to have creator, creative and creation knowledge of this wine, from its inception to this moment in time. All vintages, all progressions, all inflections and all moments of ‘worry’ have been shared, and so when a wine, and there are few on the planet with this epic consistency of production, is released, the world must pay attention. There is so much class here, it is extraordinary. How would you place this wine if you were an alien landing at our intergalactic hub in search of a refreshing libation? It could only be a wine from the 5263 quadrant of SA, which I am sure an alien could compute faster than most humans. But there is a looming sense of disquiet about this 74% Coonawarra wine, because it has an x-factor that transports into an otherworldly plane that is simply jaw-dropping. My wine mind does all it can to personify every sip I taste and yet, as much as I admire all the James Bonds, Hans Solo, and even, and this might sound somewhat incongruous, the Jackson Lambs of this world, this wine has no earthly human form synonym. It soars, mythical, half-human, half-deity, and it holds back more than it gives, and then releases unfathomable mysteries when you momentarily switch off. It is, in short, epic. I wondered if any wine could eclipse the inaugural 2012 The Caley, and then a handful of them have done just this. 2021 is the most recent to do so, and I am thrilled to bring it to your attention. Matthew Jukes, 28 January 2026 Score: 20/20
