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Yalumba joins La Place with its Old Vine Barossa Shiraz
Barossa-based Yalumba, one of Australia’s oldest producers, has revealed it will launch The Octavius Old Vine Shiraz 2018 on the fine wine platform this September.
Described by the producer as being “uniquely South-Australian”, Yalumba’s The Octavius Barossa Shiraz 2018 will join La Place de Bordeaux this September as part of the French platform’s ‘Beyond Bordeaux’ offering.
In doing so, it becomes one of only a small handful of Australian wines chosen for distribution through the network.
Carefully crafted from Yalumba’s extremely old vineyards, the “powerfully expressive” Shiraz is made using grapes sourced from some of the world’s oldest surviving planted sites dating back to 1854 (one year before the famous 1855 Bordeaux Classification).
Given that Phylloxera never reached South Australia, its Barossa region boasts the most extensive hectarage of surviving 19th and early 20th century vines in the world. Yalumba’s surviving heirloom vine stock material in particular derives from cuttings brought to Australia in 1832, and the wine estate’s The Octavius Barossa Shiraz 2018 has been produced from such historical vineyards located in both Eden Valley and Barossa Valley.
“The Octavius Shiraz represents the very best of what our region has to offer, and we are excited to share it with a wider international audience of wine lovers and collectors around the world,” said Robert Hill-Smith, fifth-generation owner of Yalumba.
“We start our forthcoming September campaign with the glorious 2018 vintage, a wine that fully expresses the generosity and purity of the Barossa’s ancient terroirs.”
While the first “experimental vintages” of The Octavius were aged in Yalumba-coopered oak octaves, the wines are now matured in a mixture of new and seasoned oak barrels to fully translate the typicity of the historical vineyard sites.
“I am delighted to be participating in this great adventure with our negociant partners in Bordeaux,” added Hill-Smith.
“The Octavius Shiraz reflects our heritage and the singular voice of the Barossa. It profoundly resonates with the character and feeling of our place. It is uniquely Yalumba and South Australian. I am hopeful that La Place will love the wine and what it stands for as much as we do.”
The 2018 vintage is widely considered to be one of the greatest vintages in memory for Barossa Shiraz, and its exceptional growing season gave rise to the “modulated power and elegant structure” present in The Octavius Barossa Shiraz 2018.
Yalumba will work with negociants including CVBG, Ulysse Cazabonne, The Wine Merchant, Twins, Sovex, Pardela Wines, and Louis Vialard, on the release of the wine.
The Octavius Barossa Shiraz 2018 can be purchased from select wine merchants worldwide, though Samuel Smith & Son and Negociants New Zealand remain exclusive distributors for Australia and New Zealand.
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