WTN: 2002 Yalumba Winery The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 56% and Shiraz 44% Barossa Australia. http://www.yalumba.com/ 14.5% alcohol. Imported by Negociants USA Inc. Napa California. $45 from Andrea Robinson Wine Club.
I tried this wine and reported on it last May; I've now had a chance to try it with another six months of bottle age, and enjoy it even more than I did then.
Deep ruby red color, deep hue, intense aroma of cherries and currants with hints of tobacco and licorice and pepper, very good fruit tastes, hints of pepper and tobacco and an intense licorice note; medium mouth feel, good tannins and light acidity in good balance with the fruit, exceptionally long finish with notes of earth, fruit, pepper and that same licorice. A little smoother than six months ago; I'm very happy that I took Robinson's advice and bought a few more bottles. Very good EGA persisting even 12 hours later with interesting minty notes. 4*+.
Notes by Andrea Robinson:
Get this wine. That was the bottom line in my tasting notes for this wine. I also wrote, "Grange-like without the Bourbon," meaning the wine reminded me incredibly of Penfolds Grange, Australia's most famous, and one of its most expensive, reds. "Without the Bourbon" refers to the fact that this wine, while receiving a comparable oak regimen to Grange of 22 months in American and French oak barrels, wears its "oakiness" with greater subtlety, which I like. It is 60% Cabernet, 40% Shiraz, and 100% impressive.
Although I would unequivocally describe the raspberry fruit as "huge" and voluptuous, the wine is not overly alcoholic and cough syrup-like the way so many big Aussie reds are today. Instead the fruit is borne up by a nice velvety-chewy tannic structure, and interlaced with both pepper/cumin savory, and cinnamon clove sweet spices. It is a real pleasure to drink now with a hearty dish, but will also age well for a good ten years. The touch of bottle age on it now has already begun to introduce subtle elements of tobacco and smoke that will develop further into leather and caramel, with time.