Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz Wooden Box 2019

96 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

The fruit for this wine comes from five vineyards in the Barossa, with the oldest vines dating back to 1854. A classy, elegant and poised Shiraz that unfolds beautifully in the glass. Bacon fat and cedar make way for dusty blackberry and dark plum before the emergence of nutmeg and black cherry. A good swirl of the glass unlocks a lovely graphite mineral underlay furthering the complexity along with earth, cocoa and ground coffee. It all comes together with air, making for a complex melding of fruit and savoury notes. The palate is buoyant and vibrant showing notes akin to the nose. Blackberry, cedar, dark plum, graphite, and nutmeg glide high through the mouth with nothing cumbersome nor out of place. There’s gorgeous structure to this wine, with a black fruit drenched acid line working with ribbons of chalky black tea tannins to a long, elegant close. A beautiful wine that will only get better with a long rest in the cellar.

96 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

A blend of Eden Valley and Barossa Shiraz, the key to this superb wine is the old vines and careful oak handling. Yalumba cooper their own oak octaves for this wine, while the oldest vines date back to 1854. For this vintage, 55% of the wine hails from the Eden Valley with the remainder from the Barossa. Maturation was for nineteen months in French oak hogsheads and barriques, with one quarter of them new. They also use the 100-litre French oak octaves. Inky dark maroon in colour, there are still lashings of oak here, even with an extended period in the cellar, but integration is proceeding well. It is quality oak and supported by notes of chocolate, mocha, coffee beans, blackberries, root vegetables, axle grease, graphite, bay leaves and licorice. There is great intensity here. Seamless in structure with a slippery texture and serious length, it finishes with fine tannins. There is good power throughout and a lingering finish. A twenty year proposition.

96 POINTS

Jacobo Garcia-Andrade Llamas - JamesSuckling.com

Really expressive, with aromas of violets, bark, warm stones and blackberries with a touch of dried herbs. Deep and concentrated but graceful, sensibly crafted with firm tannins that turn velvety. Vibrant dark fruit flavors conclude in an elegant finish. Already drinkable, but will improve with a couple of years of cellaring.

96 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

The Octavius, named after the 100L French and American oak 'octave' barrels in which it is raised, has an enviable pedigree of cellaring, seemingly able to battle the ravages of time to morph into profundity if conditions of cellar and mind allow. This release, I think, will follow that route, though will be accessible throughout its journey. Deeply coloured and traditionally structured with ripe plum, fine spice, violets, cedar and wood spice at its core, it is a graceful, comforting wine. There is a familiar, elegant feel to its flow, with gentle powdery tannins swelling and providing form, a sweep of morello cherry and a finish that fades in slow motion, all finely poised fruit, spice and leather.

94 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

This isn’t due for release until the end of 2026 but it’s here on my desk, so away we go. Coffee and plum, baked earth, asphalt, mint, Italian herbs and a toasty, saltbush-on-a-campfire note. This is a rich, powerful Barossa shiraz with traditional flavours and hallmarks in plentiful supply, but also with excellent control, shape and structure – and eventual length.

94 POINTS

2024 - Decanter World Wine Awards

Beautifully perfumed with hints of violet and rose, spiced palate of dark plum, blackberry, chocolate, cinnamon and sandalwood. Award: Silver - DWWA 2024

91 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

Old school Barossa in style, this is a rich, sturdy wine that needs time to settle in. Concentrated aromas of plump dark cherry and savory, peppery spice—with a hint of toasty oak influence—lead to a full figured palate that's intensely powerful but buoyed by bright red berry acidity. Drink 2026—2039.