Yalumba

The Octavius 2010

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  Vintage 2010
  97 points The Real Review

Very deep, very youthful purple/red colour; cedar and sandalwood-like aromas, largely from oak, with spicy and subtle confit fruit notes beneath. A superb bouquet. The palate is again, like the 2009, a more elegantly crafted style, with intensity yet also elegance and softness, subtlety and none of the mouth-crunching tannins of early vintages. Indeed, it's almost light in comparison to what's gone before. Beautifully balanced and approachable already. A very fine wine.

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  Vintage 2010
  94 points Halliday Wine Companion

Bright crimson-purple; it's impossible to escape the clutches of the oak in this wine, but it is also true of the black fruits. I don't follow the logic of compromising on cork quality in a wine at this price, as is the case here. Having got that off my chest, there is a swirl of blackberry, blackcurrant and licorice on the bouquet and palate (plus oak), the tannins are plush, round and nicely balanced. In its own idiom, a very smart wine.