The Story
Yalumba The Octavius has established a reputation as one of Australia's icon Shiraz wines, an amazing feat considering the first release was the 1990 vintage. In addition to being sourced from a number of very old vineyards in the Barossa, The Octavius is matured in American and French oak 'octaves' of 100 litre capacity. It is the only red wine in the world that is matured in such small barrels. The secret of the wine not becoming overpowered...
Vintage 1999
Australia Vintage Report:1999 also had a dry winter in Australia, with average temperatures for all months. However, there were a considerable amount of drizzly days at harvest time, causing some headaches with varieties susceptible to Botrytis cluster rot, ie. Grenache. It cleared up and the wines produced were all closed and slightly below average intensity. They look better and better.