Yalumba Y Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

South Australia (SA) is Australia's wine heartland, producing most of the country's wine and boasting some of its oldest vines. The dry, hot climate ripens grapes fully, making bold, dense and concentrated wines.

The Barossa Valley has a rich viticultural history with patches of bush-trained vines, many more than 100 years old. It is first and foremost a red wine region. Shiraz is king but cabernet sauvignon, grenache and mourvèdre play an important part, too.

Close to the Barossa is the Eden Valley, a windswept series of elevated hills producing exceptional shiraz and floral riesling. Just north of the Barossa is the Clare Valley, which represents Australia's pinnacle for riesling, where elevated vineyards temper the intense heat, producing dry whites of immense class and purity. The region's powerful and muscular reds can be outstanding too.

On the coast south of Adelaide is McLaren Vale, which vies with Barossa to be SA's best red-wine region. The climate is warm enough to...

It’s hard to give a blanket picture of how Australia has done in any particular vintage as, frankly, it’s huge! Regional variation notwithstanding, 2019 generally looks good in most regions after an excellent 2018. Drought, though, continued to be a problem, and rising temperatures in places such as McLaren Vale mean that alcohol levels are only going in one direction.

However, I would urge members not to base their view of the entirety of Australia on what is going on in Barossa or McLaren Vale. 2019 in Margaret River produced some excellent wines and this continues to be a world-class region for elegant, silky and delicious cabernet-based wines. Tasmania, Yarra and Mornington Peninsula have also shone in the 2019 vintage and demonstrate how fantastic Australia is for cooler-climate winemaking. Thanks to Margaret River and Mornington Peninsula’s sea influence (therefore keeping temperatures cooler) and the microclimates of Yarra Valley and Tasmania, these regions are set to...