Margaret River

Der Cullen Wilyabrup Amber 2017 ist ein sortenreiner Sauvignon Blanc, produziert im Stile eines Orange- oder Naturalwines. Die biodynamisch bewirtschafteten Weingärten legen ein solches Projekt nahe, und wie fantastisch Cullen dies umsetzt, lässt sich hier schon bei den ersten Aromen erkennen. Nach der Lese werden die ganzen Trauben erstmal angegoren, und zwar bevor sie gepresst werden. Diese Methode, ähnlich der Kaltmazeration bei Rotweinen, sorgt für hohe Konzentration und feine, aber spürbare Tanninstruktur. Fermentiert wird nach der Pressung sieben bis 18 Tage bei Schalenkontakt. Der Ausbau erfolgt in unterschiedlichen Gefässen: zum Teil im Stahltank, sowohl offen als geschlossen, und in Amphoren. So entsteht ein vielschichtiger, komplexer Wein, der alle Faccetten der Weinbaukunst und viel Kreativität im Keller widerspiegelt, ein Muss für Fans der Biodynamie!





 

94 Parker Punkte - Best Ever
Lisa Perrotti Brown / Aug. 2012:
Cullen Diana Madeline 2010

Composed of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc, the 2010 Diana Madeline was aged for an average of 19 months in French barriques, 51% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it offers an intense perfume of crushed black currants, blackberry preserves and mulberries with underlying clove, cedar, yeast extract, black olive and damp loam hints. The modest light to medium-bodied palate really packs the flavor into an elegant package with layer upon layer of youthful blackberry and spice flavors supported by a firm level of finely grained tannins and crisp acidity, finishing long. It should drink best 2015 to 2028+.

Von den Pionieren des australischen biodynamischen Weinbaus kommt mit dem Cullen Chardonnay 2016 Kevin John Margaret River der nächste Top-Chardonnay aus Margaret River! Die stetig steigenden Bewertungen der internationalen Kritiker lassen auch für den in Australien famosen Jahrgang 2016 großes erahnen. Die Bewertung für den Cullen Chardonnay 2016 Kevin John Margaret River steht zwar noch aus, aber der Vorjahrgang wurde von Joe Czerwinski im Wine Advocat mit grandiosen 97 Punkten bewertet.

96 Punkte James Halliday !
“Hand-picked from low-yielding 40yo estate vines, whole-bunch pressed, wild-fermented in barrel, including mlf, matured for 10 months. Bright straw-green; in best Cullen style, a wine that balances richness and complexity with freshness. The flavours focus on white peach, nectarine and fig, with creamy notes offset by citrussy acidity, and the new French oak integrated.”

97 Punkte Huon Hooke !
“Mid-yellow, bright colour. The bouquet seems forward and overt but is very rich and complex, loaded with smoky, toasty, buttery oak, fruit and lees complexities, the palate full-bodied and rich, multi-layered and long. A tour de force. It seems bigger and more forward than usual for this label, but it is immediately satisfying. The longer the wine is in the glass and the more you taste, the more details are perceived.”

96 Punkte Wine Front !
“It evokes a certain reverence. I don’t mean by the label, or the status, but by the taste of it in the glass. It’s such a gorgeous thing; nothing quite beguiles like the fruits of nature. Peaches, rich with sunshine; grapefruit, all pulp and gravity;  the cool of lime; the flush of sweet spices; a beach littered with nuts and sweet biscuits and flint. It’s Margaret River Chardonnay and it never shies from it; why would it. It’s flavoursome. It’s silky and succulent, sunny, seductive. You just kind of swoon your way from one glass to the next. Quality is prime.”

Verkostungsnotiz von Joe Czerwinski am 29. Dezember 2017:

Always one of Australia's finest Chardonnays, the 2015 Kevin John Chardonnay doesn't disappoint. Despite being completely barrel-fermented and aged in 73% new French oak, the toast element is minimal, the wood serving mainly to enhance the medium-bodied wine's textural qualities and amplify the fruit. Refined notes of white peaches and citrus weave in and out, starting quietly but growing in elegant intensity as the wine progresses across the palate, finishing dry, silky and savory on the nearly endless finish.

97 Punkte James Halliday !
“Picked on fruit and flower days, wild-fermented in French barriques for 5 months (75% new) and allowed to go through mlf. Wastes no time in asserting its blue blood ancestry with vital freshness and citrussy acidity retained despite the mlf. The layers of white flowers, white flesh stone fruit and grapefruit will become progressively richer and more complex with age, but it's so well balanced and full of life there is every reason to enjoy this chardonnay young."

97 Punkte Huon Hooke !
“Light to medium straw yellow colour with a nutty, lightly toasty bouquet which features judicious oak and there are lemon, grapefruit, citrus aromas combined the straw, lightly toasted nuts, especially almond. The palate is intense and fresh, lively and tense with bright acidity driving its flavours along a taut, compact palate, which is dry and savoury and finishes very long in the mouth. A superb chardonnay which is just an infant and will richly reward even short-term cellaring.”

96 Punkte Wine Front !
“It’s a full golden colour, and the rich theme continues. Pear, sweet spices, ripe lime, fennel and biscuits. Medium bodied, full flavour, oxidative nutty character adds interest and complexity, acidity is flinty and composed, ginger and cinnamon spice studded pear tastiness, and a very long gently powdery, tangerine laced finish. It’s a beautiful thing. Power with grace.”

Lisa Perotti Brown bewertet den Cullen Chardonnay Kevin John im Aug. 2012

für JG 2013
Gorgeous struck-match and savory, yeasty notes over a core of grapefruit, peaches, marmite, cashews, orange blossoms and ginger lead the 2013 Chardonnay Kevin John. This Chardonnay is a richer, concentrated style with layers of flavor and a wonderfully creamy texture. It has a very long finish.

Vanya Cullen has so many new and exciting projects going on at her winery, I could have happily spent a week or more in her sagely company instead of my requisite three hours. 100% Biodynamic since 2004, Vanya makes no secret of her passion for purity and sustainability. Readers will note that I refrained from using the term "natural" here as this has sadly become something of a dirty word of late and it would be wrong for anyone to unassumingly tar this conscientious winery at the pinnacle of quality with the same brush. This said, Vanya has created a brand new orange wine (as in a white wine produced from extended skin maceration to such an extent that the phenolics oxidize, producing an orange color). I don't say this about many orange wines but "Amber" is very good indeed and well worth checking out. Vanya has also produced Fruit and Flower day harvested barrels of the 2014 "Legacy Series" Kevin John Chardonnay, which yield some evocative and, dare I say, pretty convincing differences for all the biodynamic unbelievers (see my tasting notes). Interestingly, Cullen Wines even uses biodynamic barrels, which means the wood is harvested only on fruit and flower days. When I raised my eyebrows about this, Vanya insisted that Tonnelierie Bordelais produce a certificate of authenticity for these barrels. Hmmm. Anyway, back to what's in the glass, the other major vinous treat for me was a preview of the new "Vanya" Cabernet Sauvignon label, which pushes the already high Margaret River Cabernet bar up just that much higher.

97 Punkte James Hallidays
Winecompanien 2013:
 

Hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed, and wild-yeast-fermented in two-thirds new French barriques, one-third one-year-old, before spending a further five months in those barrels. The colour shows some development, and the bouquet and palate are appropriately complex. The texture and mouthfeel are supple and round, the white peach, cashew and fig flavours coursing in an unbroken stream through to the finish and aftertaste. The length of the finish is prodigious.