96 Points - Ray Jordan | 95 Points - Shanteh Wale
Founded in 1849, Yalumba remains Australia’s oldest family-owned winery with the quality of their wines continuing to soar. Named after Coonawarra’s unique cigar-shaped strip of rich red ‘terra rossa’ soil, The Cigar is produced from grapes grown on the famed Menzies Vineyard; Yalumba’s premium Cabernet Sauvignon estate.
The 2022 Yalumba The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon opens with aromas of bright cherry, chocolate and musk fruit aromas supported by savoury cedar oak. The palate is vibrant with blueberries, rhubarb and chocolate flavours, supported by silky, fine tannins on the long finish. A beautifully structured Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon with a long life ahead of this, this already receiving plenty of widespread acclaim.
"96 Points. Quintessential Coonawarra cabernet. It’s stylish and elegant, with underlying power and finesse, that is part of this famous cigar-shaped strip of the great cabernet region in South Australia. This is all about the soils and their impact on the wine. This wine introduces a leafy, slightly chalky, limestone character threading through it. Wrapping around what is the warm, powerful flesh of blackcurrant cabernet. This is a superb wine with excellent long-term cellaring."- Ray Jordan, Top 100 Reds under $50, The Weekend West, August 2025.
"95 Points. Named for the strip of Terra Rossa soils shaped like a cigar that runs through Coonawarra. As it is with the power of suggestion, the Cigar invokes the savoury spices of tobacco, cedar and sandalwood. It's layered with bilberries, blackcurrants and prunes, too. Some coffee and poppy seed tones. It is a wine in the Yalumba line-up that stands out for its heavily laden spices and muscular tannins. Oak is significant and will allow the wine longevity in the cellar. If you gravitate to the seduction of quality fruit and richness of oak, this is for you. Screwcap. 14.5% alc. Drink: 2024 - 2034. $40"- Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion 2026.
