Vasse Felix's 1967 planting by Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity is famously attributed as Margaret River’s founding estate; a watershed moment that kickstarted an entire industry! In the years since, they have crafted a roaring reptuation built on wines of structure, power and finesse. Not only have they recently maintained their place as a 5-Star Red Winery in the 2024 Halliday Wine Companion, but this year marks the 50th vintage of their Cabernet Sauvignon!
Join us this Saturday (11th) as we look to celebrate this great milestone, alongside their new 2020 Tom Cullity Cabernet blend, via our weekend tasting! There'll be three whites and three reds to please your palates - host Graham Johnson from Samuel Smith & Son knows each one inside and out, and is looking forward to greeting you in on the day between 12 and 2pm!
If the mood for gin happens to hit at the end of your week, whether as a great gift for Mother's Day or just a personal treat, we've got some of our absolute favourites from Gold Coast stars Wildflower hitting the tasting table Friday (10th) from 4 to 6pm. Host and famed gin-slinger Shane Robinson will be manning the station, pouring their Signature and Pink Gins, as well as another special surprise... ?
Vasse Felix Specials & Tasting Lineup - Saturday 11th May (12 to 2pm)
2021 Premier Sauvignon Blanc - $26 on special ; $29 RRP
"Serious sauv blanc that’s seriously good, but not as you know it. Wild fermentation in French oak foudres and puncheons with some skin contact. The result is a structured, savoury wine with an absence of overt tropical flavours – very pleasing as a result. Instead, phenolics add shape and mouthfeel while textural talc-like acidity ensures this remains refreshing. It is complex, flavoursome and moreish." - 95 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
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2022 Premier Chardonnay - $39 on special ; $45 RRP
"Pale straw appearance with a green and golden tinge. Hints of honey dew on the nose, with white peach and pear are surrounded by lemon curd, bread dough and fresh straw. The complexities of limestone dust, fresh spring grass and chamomile add the typical savoury, flinty, wild component. On the palate, immediately crisp, with bright acidity and a fresh plump fruit line. It has an appealing chalky mouthfeel with a wonderful dry finish. A nutmeg custard and pear perfume remains. Super structured Chardonnay." - Winemaker Notes
"Aromas of nougat, stone fruit, citrus, spice and nutty oak. Full-flavoured, complex and mouth-filling. A powerful wine with lashings of white stone fruit, grapefruit and creamy oak. There’s lovely weight and texture and the acidity has some zip to it." - 92 Points, Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
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2022 Heytesbury Chardonnay - $109 on special ; $125 RRP
"Evocative and lifted aromas of grapefruit pith, grilled nuts, struck match, just-ripe white stone fruit, melon skin and nougat. Complex, layered, textured and mouth-filing, with super balance between fruit, oak and acidity. Lashings of citrus, stone fruit and melon are all at play. The palate has a seamlessness to it, with just the right touch of phenolics and zippy acidity." - 96 Points, Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
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2022 Premier Syrah - $34 on special ; $38 RRP
"Not the easiest vintage in Margs, but you wouldn’t know it with this buoyant yet savoury offering. If anything, it needs more time in the bottle as it’s highlighting the exuberance of youth with its poppy dark fruits all spiced and tarted up with cranberry juice flavour. As it opens in the glass more layers are revealed, the texture of fine sandy tannins and lots of them, there’s a stony quality in a positive way as this is still tight. Savoury, complex and appealing." - 94 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
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2021 Premier Cabernet Sauvignon - $44 on special ; $50 RRP
"The release of the 2021 vintage marks 50 years of Margaret River Cabernet. Bright ruby plum with brick red tinges. An incredible multi-layered and complex aroma. Red berry fruits with hints of blackcurrant in the periphery envelop super savoury secondary perfumes of champignons and forest floor. The strong Wilyabrup influence is evident with traces of Peppy Tree, floral violets, subtle orange zest and dried oregano. A refreshing yet powerful palate. The refined and elegant, yet buoyant fruit entry is beautifully balanced by super fine long dry tannins. Complex and finessed." - Winemaker Notes
"Intense ruby colour. Ripe black fruit, cigar box and iron mineral aromas. Medium to full bodied, dark fruits meld seamlessly with tobacco and cedar wood notes. It flows long with fine tannins, there’s an effortless character that makes the wine very appealing and its long finish is precise and fine." - 93 Points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
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2020 Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec - $195 per bottle
// 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot
"I expected this to be good, and it has delivered. I see the power and concentration of the 2018 and the elegance of the 2019 with the restraint of the 2017. Beautiful, perfumed fruit with tremendous intensity. The palate is totally seamless with a velvety feel to it. So vibrant with an energy and drive that takes it effortlessly to a very long finish. Everything and everything in its place. The intensity of the blackcurrant and red fruit combination is extraordinary, yet it delivers with finesse and poise. Pretty and at the same time powerful, with a degree of delicacy and grace. A great, great wine." - 99 Points, Ray Jordan
"The 2020 season in Margaret River was an interesting one: warm, low yielding and very early (not as early as 2024!), with great marri blossom aromas and responsible for quite tannic, lushly fruited wines. Generally regarded as very good to excellent, the season had the potential to produce wines that were firm and closed, yet it didn't. So here, the 2020 is floral on the nose, with raspberry pip, rose petals, pink peppercorn, sumac, clove, a hint of sandalwood and sun-dried kelp. In the mouth, it is everything the nose promises, with a splay of ductile tannin that bends and moves with the fruit as it progresses over the palate. This is a super release from a great year; it's very much in line stylistically with the 2018 and 2014 Cullitys." - 98 Points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
Wildflower Gin Specials & Tasting - Friday 10th May (4 to 6pm)
On Special + Tasting -
Wildflower Signature Gin (on special for $72)
Wildflower Pink Gin (on special for $72)
+ another surprise!
If you wish to purchase 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 Thursday the 16th of May