2021 Yalumba The Caley Cabernet & Shiraz, Coonawarra & Barossa Valley

This is not only the greatest wine to ever emerge from the hallowed halls of Yalumba, it is categorically the finest exemplar of the great Australian blend of the modern era, and the equal of the greatest in history. Kevin KG Glastonbury’s relentless fanaticism has fused Coonawarra cabernet with Barossa shiraz (26%) to perfection, and I use this word very deliberately. While I was not alive at the time to have the privilege of tasting it in its youth, it has perhaps not been since Max Schubert’s legendary 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A that this union has been mastered with such breathtaking harmony. Since its inaugural release a decade ago, The Caley has set the standard for refinement in cabernet shiraz, reincarnating the Coonawarra/Barossa blends of Yalumba of a half-century ago to become the first wine to win Matthew Jukes and my The Great Australian Red competition four times with three vintages, each of which I scored 98-99 points. 2021 embraces this profound legacy and takes it further to establish an all-new benchmark. It elevates this distinguished label by effortlessly contrasting greater depth of black fruits, higher lift of violet fragrance, more energetic, cool season acidity and more profound confidence of tannins that are at once finer and more velvety and yet somehow stronger, more rigid and more enduring - the pinnacle of KG’s life work. I have bestowed a perfect score on an Australian table wine only once in the past decade, and The Caley 2021 is every bit deserving. Be sure to be first in line when it is unleashed on 1 May 2026. 100 points. Drink 2041-2071.

100 points Tyson Stelzer

It might be suspicion only but one feels that our venerable old Barossa producer, Yalumba, may have felt that, as impressive as its portfolio of wines is, the world did not see them having a release which challenged the Granges and the Hills of Grace and a surprising number of new releases at ridiculously high and arguably undeserved prices. Enter this wine, although it still sits well below how others when we start talking cost, but then that is only to its advantage. They opted for the great Aussie red blend to take it away from the usual single variety rock stars. It is also a blend of regions with the Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra and the Shiraz from the Barossa. There have been some absolutely superb releases of this wine over the years but for me, none better than this 2021. It is a superstar. Under cork. Gleaming blood red/maroon, the nose reveals notes of bright cherries, tobacco leaves, spices, well integrated oak, plums, blackberries, aniseed, cassis and beef stock. It is subtle and seductive, generous and plush, offering a fine line of acidity in great length. There are silky tannins on the lingering finish. Superbly focused, this is surely the best Caley to come my way (and I have seen them all). Stonkingly good, if one wishes to get technical. Thirty years with ease. Drink to 2056.

99 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, February 2026

At this viewing (and we are a long way off from this wine's intended release), we are in for a very special wine – Yalumba's flagship, from the excellent 2021 vintage. It is a picture of elegance and fruit power in one package. There is a glass-staining deep crimson colour for starters. The fruit, seemingly reduced to an essence, is all blackberry, cassis, black cherry and dark plum. Hints of deep spice, blackforest cake, licorice, cedar, tobacco pouch, bouquet garni, black olive tapenade, pencil shavings, roast beef, earth, veal glace and dark chocolate. The tannins are powdery, layered and in perfect resolution, the oak sitting simpatico with the deep fruit, the finish stretching out for a considerable length of time. The best Caley release thus far for mine. Drink to 2064.

99 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2025

Deep and bright ruby red with a hint of purple shining in the light. Blackberry, mint, dark chocolate and graphite aromatics. The palate is a true delight, showing intensity with poise as it reveals a multitude of facets. Dark berry fruits sit at the centre, with cedar wood, cigar, graphite and bay leaf ebbing and flowing as it drives along. The contrast between effortless intensity and a sense of lightness is remarkable, carried mostly by tannins that show both power and grace. As it reaches an almost never-ending finish, the interplay of characters remains in perfect harmony. (74% Coonawarra cabernet, 26% Barossa shiraz). Drink to 2047.

98 points Stuart Knox for The Real Review, December 2025

The 2021 The Caley Cabernet Shiraz hails from an excellent year in South Australia. The season was warm but not hot (in fact, it has been described as cool, although I think "mild" and "benign" are more accurate terms) and offered both growers and makers the opportunity to get the best of their vineyards and produce some of the best wines possible. These should be exceptionally long-lived wines. So here, the 2021 The Caley Cabernet Shiraz leads with a nose of deep dark chocolate, dark fruits, mahogany and black olive tapenade. In the mouth, the tannins are both intense and profuse, encasing the fruit at this early stage yet promising many years in the future to come. This is persistent and long, powerful and concentrated. Drink to 2051.

97 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, April 2026

Elegant and restrained, showing class from the outset. Dusty cedar, cassis and blood plum open before unfurling into tilled earth, graphite and gravel. Further air adds bay leaf, mulch, black pepper, cocoa powder, dark cherry and blackberry. It’s brimming with precise, layered complexity. The palate is suave and assured, gliding through with elegance, restraint and brilliant intensity. Never weighty, with black fruits intermingling with earth and spice complexity once more. Cocoa powder–coated, tight-grained tannins put up a lovely, elegant frame. The acidity is like lightning, shooting through the finish with vim and vigour to great length. Balance and complexity here will see this wine age beautifully. A powerful, serious release.

97 points Tom Kline for Wine Pilot, February 2026

Yalumba est. 1849  is a historic family-owned wine company, still in the hands of the Hill-Smith family six generations on. The Caley is named for Fred Caley Smith, grandson of founder Samuel Smith, whose late nineteenth-century travels across four continents shaped Yalumba's approach to viticulture in ways still felt today. The blend is a deliberate revival of a great South Australian winemaking tradition, combining Coonawarra Cabernet and Barossa Shiraz. It has become one of the most decorated and anticipated wines of Australia since its inaugural release in 2015.

The 2021 season delivered near-ideal conditions across both regions. In Coonawarra, excellent late winter rains replenished soil profiles before mild weather at flowering and a dry, exceptionally mild harvest period produced Cabernet of deep colour, fine acidity and wonderful varietal definition. In the Barossa, mild to warm days and cool nights built the aromatics and balance that define the region at its best.

The final blend is 74% Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon from Yalumba’s Ming D block planted in 1992, and 26% Barossa Shiraz from two exceptional old vine sources: Barty's block in the Bartholomaeus vineyard near the township of Eden Valley planted 1920, and Simon Cowham's block in the foothills near Light Pass, planted in 1955.

The 2021 has drawn perfect and near-perfect reviews to become the most acclaimed release in the wine's short but remarkable history. Reviewers are unanimous in reaching for the same words: refinement, perfection, harmony, benchmark. This is a wine for the cellar and for the ages.

Sealed under cork.