Yalumba

Yalumba is Australia’s oldest family owned winery, founded in 1849 by Samuel Smith, who immigrated from Dorset in 1847 (he was a master brewer in England), naming his winery Yalumba an Aboriginal word for “all the land around”. The winery is situated in a small town called Angaston in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, about an hours’ drive north-east of Adelaide. In 1893 third generation Fred Caley Smith embarked on a grand voyage of scientific discovery, returning with progressive horticultural developments which laid the bedrock of sustainable viticulture and winemaking at Yalumba today. Their outstanding flagship “The Caley” Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz blend pays tribute to this adventurous ancestor. The blending of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz is a distinctly Australian practice and since the 1800’s Yalumba have pioneered this method, which is represented today in their “The Signature”, first produced in 1962. They remain fiercely independent, now owned by the sixth generation of the Hill-Smith family. The winery has its own on-site cooperage; Yalumba is in fact the only winery in the Southern Hemisphere to enjoy this privilege. Yalumba specialise in Viognier, a fragrant grape variety which was nearly extinct in 1965 with just 8 acres left in the Northern Rhône, only 30 acres across the whole of France and, by 1986, only about 80 acres remained in the entire world! Yalumba championed the variety when it came to their attention in the 1970’s, when Yalumba’s chief winemaker was visiting the Rhône Valley. He was so captivated by it that on his return to Australia he planted 1.2 hectares in Yalumba’s back yard; these were the first significant plantings of the variety in Australia. Now it’s a real speciality at Yalumba, who make six different wines in their Viognier collection, and the variety has made a comeback with around 6,000 hectares cultivated worldwide.