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  • Country ranking ?

    148
  • Producer ranking ?

    9
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035

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The Story

Vanya Cullen has taken her cabernet merlot into the top echelon of Australian Cabernet through dogged determination, curiosity and superb technical skills. The exemplary vineyard site is planted on ancient granitic soils in the central Willyabrup sub-region of Margaret River. Cullen has adopted the principles of biodynamic viticulture to “achieve greater individuality of site through working with nature rather than against it”. This estate sty...

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Wine Information

87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot. Deeply perfumed on the nose with delicious aromas of violets, wild rose, mulberry and cigar box. Both light and intense on the palate with fruit density, balance and opulence. Fine tannins float across the palate, revealing notes of plum, rose and chocolate. Cullen Wines is a certified biodynamic, carbon neutral and naturally powered estate, with their philoso...

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Written Notes

87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot. From the Cullen vineyard, planted in 1971, the Cabernet Sauvignon comprises 11.33 ha, while the Merlot was planted in 1976 and covers 1.76 ha. Scott Henry trellis. Vanya Cullen believes that the conversion to biodynamic viticulture has produced better fruit. Frost reduced the yields. Harvest began on 20 March and finished on 3 April. Yields were lower than 2018. Hand-picked fruit. Each variety was fermented separately with indigenous yeasts. Fermentation time ranged from 10 to 29 days before the wine was gently basket-pressed to barrel. It matured for 15 months in French oak, of which 45% was new, in a mixture of 'biodynamic' barriques and puncheons. Screwcap. TA 5.5 g/l, pH 3.69. Carbon neutral, certified biodynamic, certified organic, sustainable, vegetarian, vegan.


Deep dark red. Elegant aroma which is marked by cassis and a light leafiness and a suggestion of Cabernet Franc's characteristic blackcurrant-leaf quality. Dry, refined tannins giving a dry mineral character. Plush and full in the mouth, the mineral character as much in the tannins as in flavour. ‘Toast to mum’, says Vanya Cullen. Smoky but not reductive. Layers of paper-fine tannins. Elegant. Opens up to a slight note of curry leaf. Or is it tobacco, or both? Very, very dry without being drying. Ultimate in refinement. (JH)

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Origin

Margaret River, Margaret River
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