Yalumba The Octavius Barossa Old Vine Shiraz 2017 750ml

Yalumba The Octavius Barossa Old Vine Shiraz 2017 750ml

95/100 Winepilot

Octavius is the finest straight Shiraz wine that Yalumba made, only trumped in the hierarchy by The Reserve and lately, The Caley (both Cabernet Shiraz). Made in only the finest years since 1990, Octavius has become an amazingly fine wine over the years, this 2016 vintage following in the finest tradition of the Hill-Smith family. Matured for 20 months in French and American oak barrels crafted by Yalumba’s own inhouse coopers. Yalumba Octavius is decadent and soulful in its youth but has the gravitas to cellar for 20 years with ease.

In the 2016 vintage, a great one for the Barossa, the wine was made with a combination of Barossa and Eden Valley fruit with an average age of 80 years, although some vines go back to 1854. That is some serious pedigree and it shows in a wine that has both great power and high complexity, despite its young age. The colour is deep as you’d expect and followed by an array of dark and blue perfectly ripened fruits – everything is in its place as is the oak. The palate is then bright and seamless with a powerful fruit core wrapped up in a blanket of oak and tannins before a long and fleshy finish. The balance is the key here, and it is impeccable. Drink now or wait twenty years – either way you are in for a treat.

Alc: 14.5% 

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