The 52nd vintage of Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz is dedicated to former employee and long-time friend of the company, Peter Sawrey.
Since 1994 Sawrey has written the words that appear on every bottle of The Signature, which honours individuals who have made a significant contribution to Yalumba’s culture and traditions.
“I have dreamt about this day,” he says.
“After years of telling the stories of others, I now have the honour of writing my own.”
Joining the business in 1988, Sawrey quickly left his mark across events and marketing before becoming the enduring author of The Signature’s back label, a role he continued well beyond his retirement in 2009.
The Signatory is personally chosen by Robert Hill-Smith and announced at the annual staff Christmas lunch.
“An authentic wine must have an authentic recipient, and the 2023 wine is a ripper,” said Hill-Smith.
“The Signatory dedication is an important tradition for our family business.
“It is wonderful to see it grow within our company, with the wine trade, and with people drinking The Signature around the world.
“The 2023 release turns that long-held tradition inward, honouring a life woven deeply into the fabric of our winery.
“It is a tribute not merely to tenure, but to character, loyalty and quiet authorship – a fittingly elegant chapter in which the storyteller becomes the story.”
It was in 1994 that Hill-Smith first asked Sawrey to interview Peter ‘PJ’ Wall for the back label of the 1990 vintage.
What followed was more than three decades of conversations, beginning with ‘PJ’, then Mark Hill-Smith, Eddy Waechter and every Signatory since, creating a written archive of Yalumba’s people and progress.
“It started with ‘PJ’ Wall for the 1990 vintage,” Sawrey said.
“Then Mark in 1991, then Eddy in 1992, and before I knew it, we were in a rhythm.”
Hill-Smith said, “That rhythm became ritual – ensuring each vintage carried not only a name, but a story.”
In January 2010 Peter Fuller wrote in WBM – Australia’s Wine Business Magazine: “For 21 years Peter Sawrey has built a reputation throughout the civilised world as the gregarious, grammatically correct (and politically incorrect) interface between Yalumba and the trade – and he is widely regarded as one of the great characers of the Australian wine industry.”
When Sawrey retired, Robert Hill-Smith presented him with the company’s highest honour, the Wyndham Hill-Smith Achievement Award.
“That’s a wonderful way to cap off my career,” Sawrey said at the time.
“I like to think of myself as a little blackbird splat on Yalumba’s nicely polished roll of honour board.
“I’d like someone to ask one day, ‘what did that bastard Sawrey do?'”
Yalumba head winemaker Sam Wigan describes The Signature 2023 as “very stylish and elegant, beautifully structured with precision on the palate”.
The Signature 2023 ($74) will be released on May 1.
The first vintage of the famous wine was the 1962.