YALUMBA THE SIGNATURE CABERNET SAUVIGNON / SHIRAZ 2023

The 52nd release of this Aussie Icon, this vintage named for Peter Sawrey as the Signatory. This release continues a string of very good vintages. A classic blend of Barossa Cabernet and Shiraz. Undoubtedly age-worthy for many more years, this also has an approachability with super-smooth chocolate-berry vanillin oak, Christmas cake fruits and spices, a hint of smokiness and a sense of solidness on the palate. 

This is the kind of wine you need to have on hand to serve when you want to impress and you can have the confidence it will last in a good cellar for well over a decade if you forgot about it. Stunning value for a wine of its quality.

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Each vintage of The Signature is named in honour of an individual who has made a significant contribution to the culture and traditions of Yalumba. We are delighted to present our 2023 vintage to Peter Sawrey, Trade Marketing Manager. Sawrey has an acute mind and a nose for mischief as well as a way with words. While now retired, he has continued to write The Signature back labels, 32 in total with the 2023, his very own being the last..

Stunning scarlet red in colour with a vibrant crimson hue. Aromas are classic, detailed and complex, featuring prominent notes of blackcurrant, dark chocolate, black cherry and olive tapenade. As the wine opens alluring floral nuances, sage and liquorice emerge. On the palate the wine is beautifully structured, revealing layers of coffee, blue fruits and spice with long, flowing tannins. This Signature is both stylish and elegant. Matured for 19 months in 22% new French and Hungarian hogsheads and barriques, balance in older French and Hungarian hogsheads and barriques"

5 Stars & 96/100 Stuart Know, The Real Review, December 2025 (2023 Vintage) 
"Opaque core leading into a deep purple rim. Blackberry, tobacco leaf, graphite and violets leap from the glass. Wonderful density of black and blue fruits creates a base upon which layers of savoury complexity are built. Graphite and tobacco leaf sit at the fore, then notes of cedar and anise shine through. Wrapped in firm but well integrated tannins that provide ample tension and drive, ensuring a long finish that is focused and precise. Many years ahead of this wine."

95/100 Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, December 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"This is a particularly good example of why cabernet and shiraz go so well together. Apart from structure and flesh, the combination of dark and red berry flavours, fruit sweetness and leafy herb notes, are just so complementary. This wine is the perfect exhibit: the fruit is fresh and flavoursome at once, not to mention of noteworthy purity. There’s cedarwood oak here too, but its integration is entire, and it has latched on to nuances of tobacco. Yalumba’s Signature pretty much never misses, and this release certainly hasn’t. Fruit, tannin, length and all-round harmony; all are in top nick."

94/100 Tom Kline, Wine Pilot, February 2026 (2023 Vintage) 
"The quintessential Australian blend shows its worth nicely here. Plum, redcurrant, sandalwood, black pepper and blackberry lead the charge. With air, graphite and bay leaf emerge, along with black olive and allusions of grilled meat. The palate is full-bodied but still lifted and somewhat cool in feel. Meat, black olive, plum, dried herbs, blackberry and sandalwood again. There’s some mintiness to the acidity and lovely architectural structure through the finish. A strong 2023 release, and one that will do well with eight years or more in the cellar."

19+/20 Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com, January 2026 (2023 Vintage)
"This is the darkest Lord in the Dynasty of The Signature. It glares at you from the glass, challenging you to approach, inch by inch and dare to take a sip. And it is not easy. It requires commitment and a fair slug of bravery. You must punch into this wine, like a cliff-diver, because that’s the level of fearlessness needed, and when you do, you will plunge into an extraordinarily indulgent abyss of flesh and fruit. Once you take the challenge by the horns, it is sheer hedonism: cavorting fruit, spectacular oak backing singers, swaying rhythmically, hand-clapping this band as it advances on the crowd and swallows up their desires in one fell swoop. This is not a regular Sig, per se, but a swelling riff on the eternal Yalumba love affair with Cabernet and Shiraz!"