Fifth-generation proprietor Robert Hill-Smith and Managing Director Nick Waterman announced Yalumba’s 2016 Signatory last May 2020 in a virtual meeting with staff and friends of Yalumba Australian Wine, bestowing the honour of The Signature 2016 to Head of Winemaking Louisa Rose.
Since its inaugural release, every vintage of Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz has been dedicated to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the culture and traditions of Yalumba – the Signatory.
“The 47th release of The Signature is as meaningful now as it was in 1966 when we released the inaugural 1962”, said Hill-Smith.
“We could not have anticipated how entrenched this wine would become in the culture and lives of every person passing through the gates at Yalumba”.
Traditionally the Signatory is announced each year at the Yalumba Christmas Party. In 2019 the celebration was postponed due to the devastating bushfires in the Adelaide Hills. It was later cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Determined not to let circumstances dampen the Yalumba spirit, Hill-Smith and Waterman live-streamed the announcement from the winery’s Clocktower in Angaston to the homes of the Yalumba family. Together they celebrated Louisa Rose’s achievements, dedicating to her “the 2016 release of a much-loved wine, wine style and label”, said Hill-Smith.
“We are really lucky to have this person in our midst, making such a devoted contribution every day. We are the beneficiaries of those contributions every day, and so, I might add, is the Australian wine industry.”
Rose joined Yalumba in 1992 for vintage. Later that year she graduated as Dux of Roseworthy College in Wine Science and started full time at Yalumba in January 1993. Since then, she has been highly awarded on many levels including Gourmet Traveller Wine Winemaker of the Year in 2008 and Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology Winemaker of the Year in 2013. Rose is the chair of the Australian Wine Research Institute and Grand Master of Barons of Barossa.
“She is more than a worthy Signatory to join the other worthy Signatories that have preceded her”.
“This is an incredible honour,” said Rose. “The Signature is a wine that means so much to everyone associated with Yalumba, not just because we love to drink it, but because of the personal connection that each vintage has with someone we know and love. So many of the previous Signatories have been my mentors and idols. I can’t quite believe that I’m to become part of that group”.
Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz 2016 will be released in the second half of 2020.
