Yalumba Organic Shiraz (75cl)

Yalumba is located near the town of Angaston, South Australia in the Barossa Valley. It was founded by British brewer, Samuel Smith, who emigrated to Australia with his family from Wareham, Dorset in August 1847. Samuel purchased a 30-acre plot of land on the settlement’s south eastern boundary. He named his property “Yalumba” after an indigenous Australian word for “all the land around”. In 1849 Samuel Smith, along with his son Sidney, planted Yalumba’s first vineyards, beginning the Yalumba dynasty. Today Yalumba is Australia’s oldest family-owned winery with fifth generation Robert and Sam Hill-Smith at the helm. Yalumba now owns over 1000 acres of vineyards in the Barossa, Clare and Eden valleys, as well as buying in grapes from selected growers, some of whom they have been working with for four or more generations. On taking over the reins, back in 1985, Robert stated: “Our goal is to be the finest independent winemaker in the Australian wine industry.” Yalumba regularly receives accolades for its outstanding wines, and for its leadership in viticultural innovation and sustainable farming. Yalumba was the first winery in the world to be recognized with the Climate Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2007) and was the first winery outside the United States to win the BRIT International Award of Excellence in Sustainable Winegrowing Competition (2013). The pair of wines we have selected represent Yalumba’s first foray into organic wine production, sourcing the fruit from a small number of close contract growers whose vineyards have been certified for many years. Yalumba’s sustainability ethos includes this certified organic winemaking programme, focused on crafting great wine with minimal intervention to the land and to the wines themselves. Yalumba is one of only four wineries around the world to have its own cooperage, highlighting the family’s dedication to the craft of winemaking: from nursery, to oak, to bottle, to glass. Chief Winemaker is the multi award-winning Louisa Rose. Five generations and 167 years later, Yalumba, Australia’s most historic family owned winery, has grown in size and stature, embodying all that has made the Australian wine success story the envy of winemakers the world over.