Yalumba: Australia's Oldest Family Winery, and Where to Start in a Range of 96 Wines
Founded 1849. Own cooperage since the 1890s. Bush vines from 1889. What to drink from $22 to $450.
Samuel Smith was a brewer from Dorset who arrived in South Australia in 1847 and, in 1849, planted vines at Angaston on the eastern edge of the Barossa. Family tradition has him and his son Sidney doing it by moonlight, after the day's paid work was done. Five generations later the same family still owns the place, which makes Yalumba the oldest continuously family-owned winery in Australia. Robert Hill-Smith, the fifth-generation proprietor, bought out the other shareholders in the 1980s and pushed the house upmarket; his daughters are the sixth generation in the business.
Two things set the estate apart from its Barossa neighbours. It runs its own cooperage, the only on-site winery cooperage in the Southern Hemisphere, and it has done so since the end of the nineteenth century. And it planted the first commercial-scale Viognier outside the Rhône in 1980, which is why an Australian winery makes what is often called the country's benchmark example of the grape. We carry 96 Yalumba wines. Here is how to read the range.
Three tiers, one house style
Samuel's Collection is the regional tier: Barossa Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Shiraz and Eden Valley whites at $22 to $25. Above it sit the single-site and old-vine wines: Vine Vale Grenache, The Tri-Centenary from bush vines planted in 1889, The Virgilius Viognier, The Steeple Shiraz. At the top are the three flagships. The Signature Cabernet Shiraz has been made every year since 1962 and each release is dedicated to a person who shaped the company. The Octavius is old-vine Shiraz, with parcels back to 1854, raised in the cooperage's 100-litre octaves. The Caley, first made in 2012, is Coonawarra Cabernet blended with Barossa Shiraz and named for Fred Caley Smith, the third-generation son whose eighteen months of travel and letters shaped the vineyards.
| Wine | Price | Window | In brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel's Collection Barossa Shiraz 2024 | $22 | Now–2030 | The house Shiraz. Blackberry, plum, liquorice, baking spice. |
| Samuel's Collection Eden Valley Chardonnay 2024 | $23 | Now–2028 | White peach, flint, tangy acidity. Eden Valley altitude in the glass. |
| FSW Botrytis Viognier 2023 (375ml) | $30 | Now–2032 | Honeysuckle, musk, ginger. The dessert half-bottle. |
| Vine Vale Grenache 2025 | $35 | Now–2033 | Old-vine Grenache from the Vine Vale sub-region. Raspberry and rose petal. |
| The Virgilius Viognier 2023 | $55 | Now–2030 | The flagship white. Grilled white peach, ginger, star anise. |
| The Signature Cabernet Shiraz 2023 | $70 | 2028–2040 | Made every year since 1962. Blackcurrant, cedar, graphite. |
| The Tri-Centenary Grenache 2024 | $75 | Now–2036 | Single vineyard, dry-grown bush vines planted 1889. |
| The Octavius Shiraz 2019 | $165 | 2027–2040 | Old-vine Barossa and Eden Valley Shiraz, 19 months in octaves. Wooden box. |
| The Caley Cabernet Shiraz 2021 | $450 | 2030–2050 | Coonawarra Cabernet, Barossa Shiraz. The 2021 carries a 100-point score. |
Four to start with
2024 Samuel's Collection Barossa Shiraz
NoseBlackberry, dark plum and black cherry with liquorice, dark chocolate and baking spice.
PalateRich and expressive. Fine tannin, balanced acidity, subtle oak, a long smooth finish on dark berry and savoury spice.
CellarDrink now – 2030 · Peak 2026 – 2029 · Decant 30 min
The bottle to keep on hand for a Tuesday. It tastes like Barossa without the weight some Barossa Shiraz carries at this price, and it is the cheapest way into the house.
2025 Vine Vale Grenache
NoseWild raspberry, red cherry and strawberry with rose petal, white pepper and subtle baking spice.
PalateMedium-bodied, silky tannin, bright natural acidity. Red berries, plum and cranberry with a savoury mineral edge; seasoned French oak only.
CellarDrink now – 2033 · Peak 2027 – 2031 · Serve slightly cool
Barossa Grenache has spent a decade shedding its jammy reputation, and this is the argument in a $35 bottle. Roast duck, lamb cutlets, charcuterie. Buy two: one for now, one to see what five years does.
2023 The Virgilius Viognier
NoseGrilled white peach, ginger, star anise and white pepper with white flowers and lime zest. Almond meal and a hint of vanilla underneath.
PalateRich, precise and refreshing. Fine acidity, serious length, oak fully integrated.
CellarDrink now – 2030 · Peak 2026 – 2029 · Serve 10–12°C, not colder
The wine that made Yalumba's name for the grape, from the vines that started Australian Viognier in 1980. If you think Viognier is soft and oily, this is the counter-example. Roast pork, apricot glazes, anything with ginger.
2023 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz
NoseBlackcurrant, blackberry and dark plum with cedar, dried herbs, graphite and subtle spice.
PalateFull-bodied and refined. Dark berry, cassis and plum on fine-grained tannin and fresh acidity; Cabernet gives the frame, Shiraz the flesh. Long savoury finish.
CellarDrink 2028 – 2040 · Peak 2031 – 2037 · Decant 1–2 hrs
Cabernet Shiraz is the blend Australia gave the world, and this house has made it every year since 1962. Approachable now with air, but the $70 is really buying you a wine for the early 2030s. Slow-roasted beef.
Further up the ladder
The 2024 Tri-Centenary Grenache ($75) comes from a single block of dry-grown bush vines planted in 1889, and it is the wine to open if you want to taste what 135-year-old Grenache does: raspberry, wild strawberry, dried herbs, a long savoury finish, with 8 to 12 years ahead of it. The 2019 Octavius ($165) is the old-vine Shiraz flagship, 19 months in the cooperage's own octaves, blackberry and black cherry over dark chocolate, sage and roasted nuts, best from 2027. At the top, the 2021 Caley ($450) pairs Coonawarra Cabernet with Barossa Shiraz and carries a 100-point score: cassis, violet, cedar and tobacco on ultra-fine tannin, a wine for 2030 onwards. Museum releases of The Signature, The Caley and The Octavius, plus the aged Tawny range, sit on the Yalumba collection page. For two more Barossa estates built on nineteenth-century vines, read our Langmeil and Elderton guides.
Looking for a back vintage or a magnum? info@winemore.com.au · Wine More Cellars, Chadstone