South Australia is dwelling to among the world’s oldest surviving vines. It’s right here within the well-known Barossa Valley that outdated Shiraz vines courting again to 1854 produce Yalumba’s ‘The Octavius’ Outdated Vine Shiraz, a wine with true pedigree and historical past.
It is a particular wine certainly, and one which – with every classic launch – maintains the vineyard’s connection to the nineteenth century and the times of pre-Phylloxera grape-growing and winemaking.
‘With every classic, we aren’t solely crafting a wine but in addition telling a narrative that displays our household’s dedication to the land, the vines and the artwork of winemaking,’ says Yalumba’s fifth-generation proprietor, Robert Hill-Smith.
Yalumba is Australia’s oldest family-owned vineyard, based in 1849 by Samuel Smith, a brewer from Dorset in south-west England. In November 2024, the vineyard celebrated 175 years of steady household possession, innovation and excellence within the artwork of winemaking.
Yalumba’s oldest plantings date from 1854
Distinctive craftsmanship
Rightly thought-about one in all Australia’s flagship wines, The Octavius takes its identify from the distinctive oak barrels wherein it ages: often called ‘octaves’, they maintain 100 litres, or one eighth the capability of a regular barrel.
These vessels are crafted from French oak at Yalumba’s onsite cooperage – The Octavius is the one crimson wine on this planet matured in 100L barrels.
Yalumba and the Hill-Smith household regard themselves as custodians of a lot of Barossa’s oldest surviving Shiraz plantings, and The Octavius is a tribute to their originality and individuality.
The oldest vines that contribute to the wine date again to 1854, 1901, 1919 and 1920. Others have been planted later within the Forties and Fifties. Collectively, they create this opulent but balanced Shiraz.
The time period ‘outdated vines’ was once used on Barossa wine labels with little consistency – till Yalumba created the Outdated Vine Constitution in 2007, which is now recognised throughout the area.
‘Chosen outdated vine websites from 1854 are the cornerstone of the ethos behind this revered wine,’ says Hill-Smith. ‘Sitting alongside that winery story is the Yalumba Cooperage,’ he provides – Yalumba is the one vineyard within the Southern Hemisphere to have its personal onsite working cooperage.
Yalumba’s onsite cooperage creates its bespoke casks
A Decanter Wine of the Yr
The present launch of The Octavius, the 2018 classic, has been chosen as one in all Decanter’s Wines of the Yr 2024. The wine scored 97 factors in a February 2024 tasting, the place Decanter’s Bordeaux Editor Georgie Hindle described it as ‘clear and smooth, huge, full and mouth-watering with liquorice, cherry blossom and strawberry fruit all through. Scrumptious.’
That is wine that can proceed to enhance within the cellar for the subsequent 15 years or extra.
The wine is a mix of choose parcels from Barossa’s oldest and most cherished vineyards, giving it class, construction and a real sense of place. ‘We imagine that nice wine is born within the winery,’ says Hill-Smith.
Yalumba’s fifth-generation proprietor, Robert Hill-Smith
Sustainable dedication
‘The Octavius Outdated Vine Shiraz is a mirrored image of our dedication to sustainable practices and a deep respect for the surroundings. It’s an expression of the land that has nurtured these vines for generations’, he continues.
‘Sustainability is on the core of our viticultural actions and as such we work instinctively to respect the websites and the crops. Biodiversity and plant well being are paramount, and all that is monitored and managed for optimum long-term outcomes.’
If you wish to expertise the true essence and distinctive terroir of Barossa Shiraz – the place the traditional soils and distinctive microclimate mix to create the right circumstances for world-class Shiraz vines – The Octavius showcases this and extra.
Hill-Smith sums it up completely: ‘The Octavius is testomony to the craftsmanship handed down via generations at Yalumba. It hyperlinks our philosophies of sustainability, heritage, innovation and aspiration.’
Yalumba’s prized Barossa vineyards, dwelling to among the world’s oldest Shiraz vines
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