Yalumba The Signature 2016 Bottle size: 750ml

‘Cool summer and autumn nights tempered warm days in 2016, producing great intensity to the iodine and espresso-edged nose and palate here. With silky blackberry and currant, fleshier mulberry and refreshing blood plum, the palate is motile, its juicy persistence a foil to the creamy, savoury oak (French barriques, Hungarian and American hogsheads, 28% new) and dynamic snare of ripe but present tannins. A fitting tribute to Yalumba's chief winemaker, Louisa Rose. 2020-2036’ – Decanter, 96/100

‘A very youthful vintage, this is taut and will age very well. Aromas of blackcurrants, tar, blackberries and baking spices lead to a palate that has such an intense, gently smoky thread with a succulent, juicy red-plum, berry and spice finish. Light espresso. Super long-aging Signature here. Try from 2024.’ – James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, 96/100

‘Very deep, dark colour with a good tinge of purple. The bouquet is rich, laced with smoky oak, the very ripe blackberry aromas of warm-grown cabernet shining through strongly. It’s very full-bodied and lavishly-endowed with supple tannins, sweet fruit and chocolaty density. The finish lingers long. Oak is evident but in good harmony with the bouquet and palate. Powerful, concentrated, and high-class. Both Shiraz and Cabernet are clearly perceptible. A long-term wine that is already approachable.’ – Bob Campbell MW, 95/100

‘Aged in a mix of barriques and hogsheads (28% new), it offers up scents of cherry, cassis and tobacco, with grace notes of cedar and vanilla. Medium to full-bodied, it's concentrated, silky, streamlined and long on the finish—very much a classic claret style despite the high proportion of Shiraz. Each year's edition of the wine is dedicated to a notable Yalumba employee; the 2016 is dedicated to Chief Winemaker Louisa Rose. 2021 – 2035.’ – Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate, 94/100

‘Inky ruby. Highly perfumed cherry, cassis, tobacco, vanilla and exotic spice scents take on a spicy nuance with air. Pliant and expansive in the mouth, offering concentrated red and dark fruit, floral pastille, allspice and mocha flavors that show impressive depth as well as energy. Closes broad, smooth and extremely long, with polished tannins and resonating spiciness and florality. 2024-2034.’ – Josh Raynolds, Vinous, 94/100

‘The first impression is that of an ethereal nose: floral scents, bitter chocolate, graphite and iodine. Beguiling. While each of these traits is true to form, they float across the organoleptics like a carpet ride. Segueing to the palate, there is little seemingly heavy about this wine despite its obvious weight and vinosity. The tannins are very finely managed: granular and precise; almost pixelated. The finish, long.’ – James Halliday, 94/100

‘The latest release of this wine honors the company's chief winemaker of 30 years, Louisa Rose. This is a lucid, multilayered wine that shows notes of dark cherry, currant, chocolate, mint, bay and peppery spices smudged with graphite. The palate is big and rich but tempered by fine, chalky tannins, with a tang to the fruit and an underbelly of roast meat.’ – Wine Enthusiast, 94/100