As I enter the room, a wave of self-consciousness washes over. One hundred and sixty-two glasses, eighteen seats and one fish out of water.
Name printed on high-quality, textured card – I find my seat and brush away the voice questioning if it was meant for another Tijana Laganin.
The chair drags a little too loudly across the floor, but no one seems to notice. I exhale.
From a discreet survey of the room, it is clear I am in good company. Correction, exceptional company. I square my shoulders and remind myself that there is no shame in using the tabletop to swirl one’s glass. Remember stability over spectacle.
Earlier last month, I had the privilege of being invited to Yalumba’s 2025 Museum Release Preview Event, Masterclass and Lunch. I would be lying if I said it didn’t come with a small case of imposter syndrome. And despite it being Tony Love’s cue to pour myself a glass of water, or Nick Stock eating a Lavosh cracker and the count of five to have one myself, it was Yalumba that brought me comfort.
Perhaps it’s this sense of comfort that has earned the company its Hotel California moniker – ‘you can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave’. I only need to glance across the table for proof, Louisa Rose, Head of Sustainability and Brand Ambassador, who began in 1992, and Kevin Glastonburg, Senior Winemaker, who joined in 1999. In an age when the average job tenure is a mere 3.3 years, Yalumba has one staff member nearing fifty. It is a testament and one they are willing to sign their name up to.
Since 1962, 63 people have scribed their signatures across Yalumba’s famed claret blend. Legend has it that, in 1965, Managing Director Wyndham ‘Wyndy’ Hill-Smith was enjoying lunch at the Adelaide Stock Exchange Club when the idea came to him. The wine served that afternoon was Hill-Smith’s 1961 Reserve Stock Galway Vintage Claret, hailed by the guest speaker as the finest Australian red wine he had ever tasted. That speaker? None other than Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies.
As the Reserve Stock Galway Vintage Claret gave way to the emblematic ‘Signature’, so began one of the nation’s most venerable winemaking traditions.
Something that could not be forged, the wine celebrates those individuals who have made a significant contribution to the culture and traditions of the brand. The first vintage was a tribute to Samuel Smith, founder of Yalumba and Wyndham’s great grandfather, the second Sidney Smith, Samuel’s son, and the third Oliver Jenkinson, Yalumba’s head cellarman for 33 years. Chairman and cellarman. Advertising agent and accountant. Viti and Vini. The list of signatories forms a parchment of parity – each indelible to the Yalumba narrative.
A narrative that is quintessentially Australian, both in essence and blend. No other family-owned winery matches the dedication to Australia’s own vinous ‘signature’ – Cabernet Shiraz. A wine that is greater than the sum of its parts, Louisa Rose puts it beautifully; “Cabernet is a serious grape, that makes a serious, linear wine with textures… Shiraz has more warmth, spice and width to its flavours and character; it’s a bit more laid-back. When blending the two, the shiraz wraps round the cabernet, giving it a hug as if it was saying… ‘don’t be so serious cabernet, together we can make a wine that is approachable and delicious young, but that will also reward long term cellaring as it ages slowly and gracefully’.”
Yalumba The Signature 2010
Signatory: Jane Ferrari – Yalumba Storyteller at Yalumba 1988-1992, 1995-2024
Jane Ferrari has visited Graceland, barracks for Chelsea FC, watches Criminal Minds with a tumbler of bourbon and grew up in Alice Springs. With fifteen years under its belt, this wine too tells a story with the same layered complexity as Ferrari. It offers a perfumed passage of time – where primary notes evolve into tertiary; cranberry, beetroot, cedar, spearmint, and terracotta. There is still so much vitality now deepened by the grace and poise that comes from age. Lovely concentration of black fruits emerge, with flavours of prune and graphite seeping into the palate’s depths. A lingering tannin profile both velvet and fine reveals an earthy mineral finish. A wine that has learned what youth overlooks: one need not shout to be heard. And I am all ears. 94 Points
Yalumba The Signature 2015
Signatory: Darrell Kruger – Barossa Vineyard Manager at Yalumba 1975-2019
On Darrell Kruger’s Signature label, he reveals life’s biggest secret: “the best hours of the day, the best days of the week, the best weeks of the year and best years of your life are spent working. Get a job you enjoy”. Darrell was employed for nearly 45 years. He passed away in 2020, remembered for his kindness, consideration and always having a great story to tell. The 2015 immortalises that great story. An enticing aroma of ripe berries on the nose, blueberry pie, Biscoff and crushed bay leaf. The wine carries an assured presence – pervasive on the palate it leads with vanilla bean, powdered fruit pastille, plum and blueberries. Dustings of spice trace the edges, while a gentle pull from tannins hint at the years to come. An enduring and generous wine. 95 Points
Yalumba The Signature 2022
Signatory: Paul Midolo – Executive Director of Sales for Aus & NZ at Yalumba 1996-2024
With a career spanning 29 years, the signatory announcement fittingly coincided with Paul Midolo’s retirement as Executive Director of Sales Australia & New Zealand. The wine, a continuation of his work, sells itself. A redolent nose, unfolding with spearmint, crushed gravel, fenugreek and a medley of freshly picked berries. Its palate is met with magnificent suppleness, a cascade of concentrated flavours -powdered plum, blackcurrant, pine needles, cedar and hints of bouquet garni. Together anchored by fine, lacey tannins, there is composure and a reticence that suggest a future full of promise. A long and pensive wine. 96 Points
Signed, sealed, and consistently delivers – The Signature is a true Landmark Australian wine*.
*1962 Yalumba Signature was listed as a Landmark Wine in The Australian Ark by Andrew Caillard MW
