It's that exciting time of the year where there seem to be new prestige releases every single week, flying in from all corners of Australia and beyond! This week, for both our mid-week offer and our Saturday tasting, we stay in Margaret River after our journey through Leeuwin Estate last week, and travel about twenty minutes north to Wilyabrup, seeking out the legends at Cullen!
The famous result of the combined genius of Kevin and Diana Cullen back in 1966, and run by their daughter, the inimitable Vanya Cullen since 1989, this team is always aiming high; producing certified organic & biodynamic wines of tremendous character and purity. We'll have a stacked lineup of some of their most beloved bottles on pour Saturday (23rd) from 12 to 2pm, ranging from their zesty skin-contact Amber blend, the moreish Cabernet Merlot, the classic Grace Madeline Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend, and the Dancing in the Moonlight Rosé that tastes like a perfect warm sunny day by the pool or on the picnic blanket! This is all before we take you through to the two standouts; the Diana Madeline Cabernet blend and Kevin John Chardonnay, both proudly shining as some of the finest examples of their respective varietals from anywhere in the country, both very much able to age for decades at a time in the cellar.
We can't wait to host you all come Saturday, and see what you make of these latest efforts from Vanya and team
Cullen Tasting Lineup - Saturday 23rd March
12 to 2pm
*All wines certified organic & biodynamic!
///
Dancing in the Moonlight Rosé 2023 - $26 on special ; $29 RRP
"Bio-dynamically grown grapes were hand harvested with natural yeast and no further additions. Created using the saignèe method for the red grape varieties grown at Cullen Wines. Some portions of this wine were fermented in stainless steel, barrels and ceramic egg giving good texture and complexity. There has also been some white grape varieties added. A real blend of varieties! Bouquet of strawberries, raspberry, cherry lime, lemon, cut straw. Palate shows vibrant juicy fruit, strawberry, lemon sherbet, curry leaf, feijoa, rose, acidity cuts fresh through the vibrant fruit and lingering texture. A wine with lots of personality and fun to enjoy on its own or with your favourite foods." - Winemaker Notes
///
Grace Madeline Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2023 - $37 on special ; $42 RRP
// 75% Sauvignon Blanc & 25% Semillon
"Bouquet of citrus, pear, orange, mango curry leaf, slate, sea salt. The palate is vibrant clean acidity, dried pear, marigolds, elderflower, curry leaf. A wine with great balance and texture, so young and needing time before it shows all its potential." - Winemaker Notes
"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
///
Amber 2023 - $39 on special ; $45 RRP
// 59% Sauvignon Blanc and 41% Semillon
"The hand-picked fruit was crushed both to amphora and open fermenters with short skin contact time to pick up vitality and tannins from the skins. The wine was then matured in 20% new oak for 5 months before bottling. Bouquet of oranges, negroni, wildstraw, almonds, mineral and orange blossom. Tightly structured palate with zinging, energetic, ripe tannins, the palate dances like a group of people experiencing great joy; exuberant orange, pear, nutmeg and thyme, travelling way down the palate showing great complexity, structure and minerality." - Winemaker Notes
///
Cabernet Merlot 2022 - $39 on special; $45 RRP
// 74.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, with 0.1% Petit Verdot!
"Bouquet of mulberry, cherry, vanillin, rose, violets and chocolate. Creamy chocolate vanilla and cherry with a beautiful fresh tannin finish. All these beautiful fruit tones, singing on the tongue, making you grab the glass again to experience the silky, clean, fresh, vibrant, personality of the 2022 cabernet sauvignon merlot. Delicious!" - Winemaker Notes
///
Diana Madeline 2022 - $150 on special ; $169 RRP
// 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec
"Needless to say, Margaret River enjoyed another superb vintage with the 2022 season. Slightly cooler, Cullen report that it was a vintage of “immense perfume and texture”. This wine will be released early February to coincide with Diana’s 101st birthday. The wine is a wonderfully vibrant purple in colour. The nose gives up plums, cassis, spices including nutmeg, chocolate, mocha, bay leaves, cigar box notes – think a freshly opened box of Cohiba Siglo VI – and near perfect oak integration. This is finely balanced and exhibiting immense length. The palate sees the emergence of aniseed, mulberries and coffee beans. An alluringly supple palate with the silkiest of tannins, though plenty of them – there really is some grip here. This will easily sail through fifteen to twenty years in a good cellar." - 98 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
///
Kevin John Chardonnay - $169 on special ; $189 RRP
"The 2023 Kevin John is a powerful, bold, textural, example of a point in the journey with no end of discovering terroir through biodynamics. Bouquet of white flower, orange blossom, peach, nectarine vanilla, curry leaf, dried pear, grapefruit. The palate shows tightly bound fruit with phenolic tension at front sliding through to peach, nectarine, grapefruit flavours. Fantastic fruit power and length and firm clean finish." - Winemaker Notes
"Light-medium yellow colour, quite full in its youth; the bouquet shows toasted almond, cashew and coconut aromas, spicy oak and some fluffy yeast lees traces, while the palate is rich and generous, quite forward and giving, with an impresison of fruit sweetness and a clean finish with perfectly judged phenolics giving it an appetising conclusion. A rich, generous and quite open-knit style of chardonnay that's already drinking well." - 96 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Also Available on Special from Cullen
Last bottles remaining of each!
---
Diana Madeline 2020 - $142 on special; $159 RRP
Diana Madeline 2021 - $150 on special; $169 RRP
'Vanya' Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 - $799 on special; $900 RRP
If you wish to buy any of these 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 the Wednesday the 27th of March