Of all the great personalities and talented wine intellects that bless our industry here in Australia, few stand out in the crowd more so than Vanya Cullen. Perhaps the one true spokesperson and advocate for biodynamic winemaking, and forward-thinking environmental stewardship in general, her small team over in Margaret River's Wilyabrup locality possess a connection with their vines that only committed custodians of any historic land could uphold. It was Vanya's parents, Kevin and Diana, who first began the family legacy, and she has proudly kept their flame burning bright (with two of their most iconic labels named after them). The belief that great wine begins in the vineyard, and performs best when the fruit is intervened with as little as possible, is the crux of what this family ardently stands by.
“My inspiration comes from nature and what that produces in these great wines. It’s always renewing, it’s always something different.” – Vanya Cullen
This Saturday (21st June), come by the shop at the usual 12 to 2pm slot, as we open up all of Cullen's latest releases! We start with the flavourful Dancing in the Moonlight Rosé, Red Moon Malbec blend, MetricupChardonnay and beloved Sauv/Sem Grace Madeline, before reaching the two shining stars - Diana Madeline (from the exceptional 2023 season) and Kevin John Chardonnay 2024! All bottles are on special, if you can't quite make it in, with some last bottles of older vinage Kevin John also down on offer!
And for all the fans of a crispy beer at the end of the work week, Straddie Brewing is on pour come Friday (20th) too! Their new limited release Big Rock Stout has landed at the perfect time for all this cold weather - we'll be cracking all the tins at 4pm, running until 6pm.
Cullen Wines - Specials & Tasting
Saturday 21st June (12 to 2pm)
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Dancing in the Moonlight Rosé 2024 -
$25 on special this week; $28 RRP
// Certified Organic
"This is made by the team using the saignèe method, with grapes biodynamically grown. All red varieties grown by Cullen are included, from the Cullen and Mangan vineyards. Harvesting is on fruit and flower days with fermentation – wild yeast – in a mix of stainless steel, barrels and ceramic eggs. A deep neon pink. The nose gives us spices, strawberries, dry herbs, a hint of orange rind, cherries and florals. Full of flavour and yet elegant, this is a superb example of Rosé. Balanced and clean, with bright yet gentle acidity and very good length. A complete style. Enjoy over the next two to four years." - 93 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
Mangan Vineyard Red Moon Blend 2024 -
$34 on special this week; $38 RRP
// Certified Organic (33% Malbec, 23% Grenache, 22% Mourvedre, 17% Petit Verdot and 5% Merlot)
"The wine is intensely concentrated in fruit flavor and tannin, with pomegranate, mulberry, violets, licorice, fennel, blood plum and cherry. There are pink peppercorns and pressed roses, with ozone and tarmac in profusion. There's a slinkiness to this wine that I appreciate; it is cleansing like summer rain, and it is inky and just a little bit chewy. The purity of expression here is so impressive. Fermented without additions, it matured in older oak for eight months." - 95 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Grace Madeline Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2024 -
$35 on special this week; $39 RRP
// Certified Organic (75% Sauvignon Blanc & 25% Semillon)
"Bright straw yellow hue. Fragrant and detailed nose, white nectarine, roasting cumin seeds and wattle blossom aromas all lifting from the glass. Medium in weight with supple stone fruit at the core that is layered with roasted yellow spices and honey florals all building complexity. Acidity is present but stays in the shadows, allowing the palate to flow with a seamless integrity that delights the senses" - 95 Points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
Metricup Chardonnay 2024 -
$46 on special this week; $52 RRP
// Certified Organic
"Planted in 1998 the vineyard is located on the border of Wilyabrup. This wine exhibits beautiful nectarine citrus fruit flavours and has been made in the Chablis style using little oak and cool fermentations to retain the fruit. The seashell label pertains to the influence of the ocean in Margaret river wine growing and the simplicity and beauty of the natural world in our biodynamic winemaking. It is completely different in concept to the Kevin John’s in place and style but made without additions of yeast acidity and anything else." - Vanya Cullen, Winemaker
Cabernet Merlot 2024 -
$46 on special this week; $52 RRP
// Certified Organic (85% Cabernet Sauvignon & 15% Merlot)
"A very purple tasting wine here with a mix of blue and black fruits, pimento/capsicum, baking spice, dried roses, and something a bit ferrous. It’s medium-bodied, but quite thick and chewy, not polished up too much, and also has some bitter dark chocolate in the mix, blackcurrant, dried herbs, balanced acidity, and a finishes with some roast red capsicum and a fair bit of perfume. Lots of Cullen in your glass at pretty fair price, if you take my meaning." - 94 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Diana Madeline 2023 -
$150 on special this week; $169 RRP
// Certified Organic
"Put bluntly, this is perhaps the finest young Australian Cabernet I can recall seeing. We have aromas of dark, rich chocolate, cocoa beans, plums, beef stock, graphite, mulberries, cloves and blackberries. Elegance and refinement here, this is all class and there is wonderful length, with the wine finishing with the silkiest tannins. There is immaculate balance and amazing intensity and yet the wine dances with freshness and energy. The image that keeps appearing here is Muhammed Ali at his peak, dancing with grace. The more time in the glass or in an open bottle you can give it, the more reward will come. Surely one of the greatest Cabernets made in this country, perhaps Vanya’s best ever, and it confirms that 2023 in Margaret River – a region of seemingly endless fine vintages – is truly special." - 99 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
"The 2023 season was mild, dry and quite spectacular. There was some rain at the very end of the red harvest, and this was a very site-specific thing, not widespread over the region. Aromatically, the wine is intensely perfumed: graphite and pressed lavender, wet rose petals, raspberry pip, liquorice, concrete and summer rain. This gives everything that I could hope for in an early-release Cabernet: dark fruit and exotic spice, mineral detail and more. The chalky and fine tannins shape the palate and spool out long over the finish. Is this the finest and best Diana Madeline made to date? Perhaps! What a wine." - 98 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Kevin John Chardonnay 2024 -
$169 on special this week; $189 RRP
// Certified Organic
"Always one of our greatest Chardonnays, not just a great Margaret River Chardonnay. Full biodynamics as always, Gin Gin clone from plantings made between 1976 and 1988, largely new oak. A straw/lemon hue, this is a very youthful Chardonnay, but it is elegance personified, with energy and focus and the signs of very early complexity. There is a beautifully creamy texture here with fine, citrussy acidity. The nose offers notes of peaches, florals, ginger, hints of nectarine, bergamot and lemon curd. This is poised and taut, a wine of precision. Long and lingering, there are notes of oatmeal on the palate. Leave it for a couple of years and it will be very special. Then enjoy for a further twelve to fifteen years." - 97 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
"A warm and dry vintage in ’24 yet the fruit was picked early, between the 11th and 19th January, with five hand harvests according to the biodynamic calendar. Aged 6 months in 50% new French oak puncheons. And yet, it's almost a pared-back style given the richness and flavour we’re accustomed to with Kevin John – everything reined in by fine acidity. It’s a pleasing outcome. Grapefruit and white peach, cedar/caramel oak spices and a light fragrance of lemon blossom. Not all upfront fruit; there’s a savouriness throughout, a fine layer of nougat/nutty lees and a tug of phenolics that adds more shape." - 96 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
Last bottles of older Kevin John also available on special -
Kevin John Chardonnay 2022 -
$169 on special this week; $189 RRP
Kevin John Chardonnay 2023 -
$169 on special this week; $189 RRP
If you wish to buy any of the Cullen wines, please use the links above
Alternatively, email us at sales@thewineemporium.com.au, or contact us on (07)32521117 if you have any questions.
// Prices valid until Wednesday the 25th of June