5 STAR WINERY RATING – WINE COMPANION
The Yalumba Clocktower presides over what is famously celebrated as Australia’s oldest family-owned winery, based in Angaston. It’s an imposing building, equal parts regal and rustic, and it has been the locus for the Hill Smith family’s winegrowing for six generations. For decades, Robert Hill Smith has steered the family business into a diverse operation, from ventures throughout the country to New Zealand, along with premium wine importation and a critically important vine nursery. He has also famously championed viognier, and was driving meaningful sustainability and environment policies well before most, and continues to. The name Yalumba, though, is synonymous with the Barossa. It speaks of the traditional hero varieties (and viognier, too, from the Eden) and the sun-kissed earth. But Yalumba excels just as much in Coonawarra, with the flagship The Caley straddling both regions in the classic old Australian cabernet shiraz blend. It’s a neat connective thread between place, grape and time. Through the range of iconic bottlings and newer specialised additions, the Yalumba wines deliver high quality wines that speak equally to history and a restlessly progressive spirit. WINE COMPANION
