The 2022 Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz Museum Release 6L is a monumental large-format presentation of one of Australia's benchmark Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz blends from the Barossa Valley. Officially released by Yalumba as a 6L Methuselah, this extraordinary bottle contains the equivalent of eight standard bottles and transforms The Signature into a genuine collector's centrepiece. The 2022 is the 51st release of The Signature and honours Paul Midolo, Yalumba's long-serving former Executive Director of Sales. The blend comprises 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz, sourced entirely from the Barossa. Cabernet comes from two selected vineyards, while the Shiraz includes vines dating back to 1925, with an average vine age across the selected material of approximately 52 years. The wine was wild fermented and matured for 18 months in French and Hungarian oak, including 21% new oak.
The cool, low-cropping 2022 season produced a particularly refined expression of The Signature, showing blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry and plum alongside red liquorice, cedar, tobacco, mint, bay leaf, dark chocolate and savoury spice. The palate is full-bodied and concentrated, but the defining quality is its balance: vibrant freshness and exceptionally fine tannins give the wine precision and length rather than simple Barossa power. Critical acclaim has been outstanding. Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate awarded 97 Points, describing it as potentially one of her favourite releases of The Signature and giving a drinking window of 2025–2052. Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion awarded 96 Points, with a drinking horizon extending to 2054, while James Suckling and Vinous both awarded 95 Points. The vintage also received Gold at the 2025 Perth Royal Wine Awards.
