This blend of Barossa Valley (67%) and Eden Valley fruit hails from five parcels averaging 80 years old, the oldest planted in 1854. Intensely concentrated in hue and muscular flavour. Spicy and mineral to the nose and palate, with glimpses of violets. Its iodine and liquorice-edged black cherry and blueberry flavour is succulent, but still in the grip of the sinewy, charry oak, making for an imposing, slightly austere finish. A powerhouse.

For a wine named for the 90-liter barrels it was originally matured in, Yalumba's 2016 The Octavius displays relatively restrained oak. This vintage, only 50% of the volume aged in those small octaves for 20 months, with the rest in a mix of barriques and hogsheads (a mix of French and American), all of which were coopered at the winery—but only 28% of which were new. Cedar and vanilla notes accent mixed berries on the nose of this full-bodied effort, which comes from the Barossa (two-thirds) and Eden Valleys (one-third). Rich and velvety on the palate, it adds hints of dried spices, juniper berries and bay leaves on the long finish. The youngest vines were planted in 1951, the oldest in 1854.