Yalumba planted the Menzies Vineyard in 1975 and 1994, with a view to establishing an elite marque of Coonawarra. Named after the unique cigar shaped strip of rich Terra rossa soils, Cigar is sourced mostly from the younger blocks at Menzies North and Menzies South. The wines from these superlative sites have a style of their own, as vines are influenced by a diverse range of elements to yield the most eloquently flavoured fruit. The Cigar is a fully engrossing Cabernet Sauvignon with intense, dark berry characters and the most equitable tannins.

Crafted in similar fashion to the flagship Menzies Cabernet, Cigar is vinified to small batch winemaking techniques. The defining character of the source vineyards comes from the soils, classic full bodied red dirt. The grapes are crushed to small static fermenters, temperatures are allowed to peak early at 30C, then given more control around 20C. This ensures good extraction of colour and tannin. Grapes remain on skins for a week, some components are treated to an extended contact. After pressing, the wine completes malolactic, followed by twenty two months maturation in a combination of new and prior use French, American and Hungarian oak hogsheads and barriques.