Virginia Willcock, Pro (Australia)  tasted  20 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  20 wines 

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The 2022 vintage: A cool, winter-like spring saw vine growth delayed in development. Rainfall in October was significant. A dry and warm summer, with sustained warmth day and night through December, January and February, possibly influenced by another La Niña season, saw a rapid ripening period for all white varieties, with all vineyards harvested in little over a month. Fruit quality was excellent with surprising delicacy and elegance. A low yielding vintage, primarily due to spring conditions over the past two years. Warm and rapid veraison for whites in January was ideal and saw the Chardonnay’s desirable ripe flavours pronounce themselves quickly. Vine health remains fantastic, with fruit quality high and flavours concentrated.

25d 4h ago

 Andrew Caillard MW, Wine Writer (Australia)  tasted  3 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  13 wines 

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Vasse Felix Tom Cullity 2018 /Medium deep crimson. Fragrant cassis, dark plum, chinotto aromas with herb garden, aniseed notes. Voluminous blackcurrant, dark plum, blackberry fruits, lovely persistent fine chocolaty textures, superb mid-palate density, fresh juicy acidity and plentiful mocha, espresso oak notes. Finishes chocolaty with plentiful sweet dark fruits and attractive mineral length. Lovely concentration, definition and torque. Should last some distance and keep for a while to let the elements further integrate. An impressive landmark vintage. 78% cabernet sauvignon 17.5% malbec 4.5% petit verdot. Matured in new (59%) and seasoned French oak for 18 months. 98 points

28d 2h ago

 Jeff Porter/Sommelier, Pro (United States)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  44 wines 

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Antinori Guado al Tasso 2019 / Full-bodied, very tannic, blackcurrant notes, blackberry notes, dark cherry notes, plum notes, black pepper notes, oak notes, rich, full-bodied, warm, long. 94 points

2m 28d ago

 Zae Lee Chiau/Sommelier, Pro (China)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  24 wines 

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Artadi La Poza de Ballesteros 2019 / Young, purple, healthy, bright and full looking colour. On the nose it is youthful, intense, forward, seductive and fresh. The taste is ripe, vigor, focused, rich, with medium tannin, with silky tannins, full-bodied, with satin texture, concentrated structure and youthful. On the palate it is layered and has cigar-box, floral, pepper, tropical fruits, tobacco, toasty, mineral, violet and blackcurrant flavours. The finish is long, round, flavorful and pure. This wine is exotic,a mouthfilling and fine. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 20-30 years and decant at least 2h before tasting. Good value for money. I do recommend.

4m 8d ago

 James Halliday, Wine Writer (Australia)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  6 wines 

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Rubicon 2016, the deep garnet-purple colored Cabernet Sauvignon gives up bold notions of crushed red and black currants, wild blueberries and blackberry preserves with touches of violets, dark chocolate, cardamom and bay leaves plus a hint of unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate reveals great elegance and depth, with a beautiful line of finely grained tannins and amazing freshness, finishing long and layered.

1y 1m ago

 Erin Larkin, Wine Writer (Australia)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  14 wines 

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CHATEAU MARGAUX 2017 / 89% cabernet sauvignon, 8% merlot, 2% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot/ 100% new oak. Red currants, succulent and intense, also sweet… great harmony and choral resonance… I realise I’ve drifted off in my own thoughts with this wine… the flavour lingers so. This is BDX, it is the best wine we’ve had today (this week/month etc) and it is the reason why we seek to make and drink better wine. Holy crapola.

1y 6m ago

 Christer Byklum , Wine Writer (Norway)  tasted  2 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  33 wines 

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2018 Ornellaia /Ruby. Blackberries, anise, spices, detailed, fruit driven nose, intense. Floral high notes. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, dark fruits, anise, liquorice, detailed and intense, bit high alcohol, long finish. 94p

1y 11m ago

 Julia Harding MW, Wine Writer (United Kingdom)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  25 wines 

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Henschke Hill of Grace 2004 / 100% Shiraz grapes from pre-phylloxera material brought from Europe by the early settlers in the mid-1800s and grown in the Eden Valley wine region. Matured in 100% new French (50%) and American (50%) hogsheads for 18 months prior to blending and bottling.
Slightly greyish but deep garnet. Intensely sweet dark cassis fruit plus some cedary leafy notes. Rich and smooth and really plush, generous and silky but also very moreish and juicy. pH 3.6, TA 5.7 g/l,

3y 4m ago

 Erin Larkin, Wine Writer (Australia)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  9 wines 

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2014 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity, Margaret River, 99 points / “The red fruits shine here.  This is incredible. Raspberry, pomegranate, red apple skins, pink peppercorns, hints of strawberry, blackcurrant, mulberry, seaweed/nori (an injection of iodine, beetroot).  The tannins are polished, like whipped egg white: chewy and sumptuous.  The flavours extend through the palate and into the length.  Very very long.  I can write long after it is gone.  Alive.  Energy.  Doesn’t want to finish, it doesn’t want to let go.  It lingers.  Great depth of flavour.  Effortlessly long.  In fact… it needs the extra linger time just to make sure its covered all of its flavours and textures.  Super fine, powerful, long, structured and delicate.  Perfect.”

If this represents where Margaret River has come to, then we are indeed in a magnificent place.

To put this into perspective: Margaret River vintage charts are pretty bland – the range is very good to exceptional.  There are ‘typical’ years, ‘plush’ years’, ‘leaner’ years, ‘warmer’ years… but they’re all good.  They all age prodigiously.  The 86’s are still alive and kicking: not bad for a wine region which at the time, was trailblazing towards a brave new wine world.  In 2017, Margaret River celebrated its 50th year, and along with it, Vasse Felix, it’s 50th vintage.  2018 sees the release of the 2014 Tom Cullity.  Perhaps one of the best cabernets to come out of Australia. Perfect.  99 points (or 19.5pts).

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot

(Slightly more Cab than the 2013, less Malbec, the same PV)

100% basket pressed / 100% whole berry ferment / 100% wild yeast / 24 days on skins / French oak barriques 62% new, 38% 1-4 year old, 18 months / Unfined

3y 10m ago

 Jamie Goode, Wine Writer (United Kingdom)  tasted  1 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  20 wines 

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Château Latour 1961 / 98 points / A great chance to try a legendary wine. This bottle came from Hugh Johnson’s cellar, and it’s the most expensive wine on sampling at £175 a pour. It is still amazingly youthful looking and has a taut, perfumed nose of herbs, blackcurrant and spice. The palate is actually youthful, with spicy mineral notes and good acidity under the blackcurranty fruit. Fine, elegant and structured, this wine has real precision and focus, and isn’t yet fully mature. A remarkable experience: if I’d tasted it blind I would have said with was from the 1980s or 1990s. 98/100

4y 4m ago

 Ron Li Leung, Sommelier (Hong Kong SAR China)  tasted  6 wines  from  Vasse Felix Winery . In a tasting of  6 wines 

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Vasse Felix Tom Cullity 2013 / 98 points / Deep maroon with a brick and purple tint. Savoury to start with meaty mushroom, nori, salty sea breeze, graphite and spicy cedar notes. Opens beautifully with cherry pip, cassis, Christmas cake, orange rind, pot pourri and Australian forest floor. A refined, soft, elegant and almost creamy Cabernet style with sublime tannin and mouthfeel. The flavour is full, yet elevated and carries cherry, cassis, hints of cinotto, cedar and chocolate. It finishes juicy, while fine and dry.
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot
Vasse Felix, Margaret River’s founding wine estate, was established by Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity in 1967. Among his first plantings were Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec vines, from which he produced the estate’s first red wine. The TOM CULLITY descends from these original vines and represents the pinnacle of Vasse Felix. The inaugural release was in May 2017, coinciding with Vasse Felix’s 50th Anniversary. All fruit was grown in Vasse Felix’s Home Vineyard. Fruit parcels were picked in small blocks and fermented with 100% wild yeasts. 52% was static fermented and macerated on skins for more than 20 days. 48% was open fermented and macerated for 10-15 days on skins. The wine was fined with egg whites and racked before minimal filtration to bottle.

4y 7m ago