I have been watching and tasting Yalumba‘s organic tier of wines for a few years. This year, I noticed “GEN” on the label. From the 2022 vintage, all Yalumba GEN wines will be Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (SWA) certified. Yalumba GEN is 100% certified organic (by Australian Certified Organic) meaning they use no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides in their vineyard and winemaking practices. Yalumba GEN is wild fermented, using natural yeast from the vineyard to ferment their wines, and is 100% vegan-friendly.
I received the Yalumba GEN Viognier 2022 and Yalumba GEN Shiraz 2022 to review for you. Let me tell you about these two wines.
My Wine Tasting Notes
Yalumba GEN Viognier 2022 (BC $27.99)
Appearance: Bright, clear, medium-plus intensity lemon colour.
Nose: Medium plus intensity flint aromas with lesser amounts of lemon, toast and pears. No change to the aromas after decanting.
Palate: Dry, thick and round, along with acidic prickle on your tongue. Medium-plus acidity, body, and flavour intensity. Flint, pears, apples, and touches of peach and honey. There is some stoniness that I pick up on the mid-palate to the finish. With swirling I also get pineapple and toasty flavours. I pick up a citrus flavour to add to the other flavours, after decanting.
Finish: Medium-plus length with stone fruits, pepperiness and stoniness on the finish. Dry finish. Acidic prickle to the end. A bit more peppery on the finish with decanting.
I enjoy the variety of flavours and the texture of this wine. To decant or not is OK.
Rating: 
– 
A Viognier with a flinty nose along with lemon, toast and pear aromas. A dry wine with a thick, round mouthfeel. Medium-plus acidity. Flint, pears, apples, and touches of peach and honey. Also some stoniness toward the finish. Medium-plus length. Tasty.
Yalumba GEN Shiraz 2022 (BC $27.99)
Appearance: Opaque dull ruby colour. Opaque almost to the rim.
Nose: Medium-intensity aromas of plums, black fruit, blackberries, some meatiness and a touch of floral with air. The aromas do not change with decanting.
Palate: Dry, medium body, smooth, round and almost mouthfilling. Black fruit, blackberries and cherries, plums, with light pepperiness oak and floral. Lighter acidity and medium-intensity tannins. Add blueberries and other berry fruit flavours with decanting.
Finish: Medium length finishing with juicy black fruit flavours, light pepperiness and medium intensity tannins. A longer finish with decanting, plus the addition of berry fruit flavours.
A wine that is easy to enjoy. Decanting gives you more berry flavours on the palate.
Rating: – with decanting. Deeply ruby-coloured Shiraz. Medium-intensity aromas of plums, black fruits, some meatiness and floral. A dry, smooth, round, almost mouthfilling wine. Black fruits, berries and cherries, plums, and a touch of oak and floral. Medium-plus length with decanting.
Path to Sustainability
It takes a winery a while to go from traditional viticulture and winemaking to using sustainable practices. Here is a graphic from Yalumba, showing their path to sustainability.
Where Can I Buy These Wines?
The GEN Viognier is available at the following private wine stores in BC. The GEN Shiraz is brand new to the market, but I guess would be carried by the same stores.
- Liberty Wine Merchants,
- Nesters,
- Everything Wine North Van,
- Legacy Liquor store
