Yalumba

Rare & Fine The Octavius

Syrah/Shiraz & Syrah/Shiraz-based Blends

Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz bottle image

Syrah/Shiraz & Syrah/Shiraz-based Blends

Signifying Yalumba’s commitment to Barossa Shiraz, this is a truly individual wine, handcrafted, handmade and matured in fine French oak and Yalumba coopered American octave barrels. These unique barrels, which offered inspiration for the wine’s name, are just one of the many harmonious components in the symphony that is Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz.

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Wine Production

The growing season opened with a drier than average winter, followed by an even drier and warmer spring and summer. These conditions produced fewer grapes that were concentrated and full of flavour. Although the season was warm, it was without extremes and the nights were relatively cool, helping to maintain freshness, aromatics and a pristine fruit profile. Matured for 20 months in 42% new French and American octaves, 14% 1 year old French barriques and hogsheads, balance in older French barriques & hogsheads.

Tasting Notes

The aromatics show off its Eden Valley heritage, with fresh floral berry fruits and sweet dark cherries. The palate depth showcases the Barossa Valley, with dark, brooding chocolate, dark plum roundness and great concentration. The cool freshness of Eden Valley develops with the supporting acid and grainy tannin giving the wine structure for long term cellaring.

Food Pairing

Enjoy alongside a slow roasted lamb shank, or chargrilled cauliflower with fried butterbeans and pumpkin hummus.

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Wine Production

Tasting Notes

Food Pairing

Enjoy alongside a slow roasted lamb shank, or chargrilled cauliflower with fried butterbeans and pumpkin hummus.

Brand Materials

Tech Sheet Bottle Shot Acclaim

POINTS

Sporting a super youthful colour at 15 years of age, this is another classic from the recently released quiver of Yalumba museum releases. Ripe blackberry, blackcurrant and black cherry fruits with hints of brown spice, cedar, tobacco, licorice, sage, espresso, graphite and dark, bitter chocolate. It sports an impressive depth of fruit, intensity and length of flavour with gentle leather and dried herb notes coming in on the palate along with a cascade of fine-grained tannin. It is still pure and sprightly as it slowly retreats.

James Halliday

94+

"Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2010 Shiraz The Octavius offers up expressive notes of warm blackberries, mulberries and black cherries with touches of baking spices, vanilla, mocha and licorice. Full-bodied and generously fruited in the mouth, it balances the warm black fruit and spice flavors with a good backbone of lively acid and a firm level of rounded tannins. It finishes with great length."

POINTS

The continuing journey of change at the heart of The Octavius Old Vine Shiraz reached a decisive moment in 2010, when the oak maturing regime – a fundamental philosophy behind this particular interpretation of rich Barossa Shiraz – began to shift. Relaxing the new oak influence allows the beauty of the fruit to shine more brightly, and the black heart of this big wine begins to open up. Matured for 20 months in 35% new eight-stave octave barrels made from French and American oak, with the remainder in older French, American and Hungarian oak barrels, it speaks plainly about the challenge of containing big, ripe fruit from old vines. But the big bass notes hum with a seductive resonance, and the balance of components after 15 years is sublime.

POINTS

"Opaque ruby. Potent, mineral- and smoke-accented blueberry, cherry liqueur, vanilla and potpourri aromas are complicated by an exotic Indian spice nuance that builds steadily with air. Seamless, round and alluringly sweet, offering palate-staining black and blue fruit liqueur, spicecake and floral pastille flavors and a hint of mocha. Finishes sappy, smooth and extremely long, featuring harmonious tannins and a lingering candied violet flourish."

POINTS

"Bright crimson-purple; it's impossible to escape the clutches of the oak in this wine, but it is also true of the black fruits. I don't follow the logic of compromising on cork quality in a wine at this price, as is the case here. Having got that off my chest, there is a swirl of blackberry, blackcurrant and licorice on the bouquet and palate (plus oak), the tannins are plush, round and nicely balanced. In its own idiom, a very smart wine."

James Halliday

Vineyard & Production Info

Vineyard name:

Multiple Vineyards

Soil composition:

Barossa Vineyards

Elevation:

300-1,500 feet

Average Vine Age:

84 years

Certifying Organizations:

ISO14001; Entwine Australia

Sustainability Certification:

EPA Acredited Sustainability Licence

Winemaking & Aging

Prefermentation Technique:

1-3 days on skins pre fermentation before wild yeast start to ferment

Varietal composition:

100% Shiraz

Fermentation container:

Stainless steel tanks

Malolactic fermentation:

Yes

Fining agent:

Vegan

Type of aging container:

Barriques and Hogsheads

Type of oak:

French and American

Length of aging before bottling:

23 months

Age of Aging Container:

20 months

About the Vineyard

Sourced 53% from Eden Valley and 47% from Barossa Valley with an average vine age of 84 years. The Eden Valley Shiraz provides the exotic aromatics and seamless palate structure, while the Barossa Valley Shiraz provides richness, density and concentration.

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