DIANA MADELINE CABERNET SAUVIGNON MERLOT 2003

  
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    Perhaps Cullen's best-known wine, this blend was recently included in the prestigious Langton Classification of Australian Wines. The vines planted in 1971 are 30 years old. On average the yields are around two tons per acre, or 26 hectolitres per hectare, giving great concentration to the wine. They are grown on the Scott Henry trellising system, which yields grapes with ripe tannins and flavours. This wine is typically a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. The varieties are vinified separately and matured in French oak for 18 months. The result is a deeply coloured wine with great depth of flavour, fine grain tannins and outstanding cellaring potential.  
 
     
Tasting notes   Reviews
     

This wine was made from a blend of the same four Bordeaux grape varieties as last year. The final blend comprised 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 4% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot. The Baumés of these varieties at the time of picking typically lay in the range of 13 to 14°. All of the wine was matured for 15 months in French oak, of which 52% was new. The final alcohol concentration of this wine was 13.5%.

Colour: Deep red with vibrant purple on the meniscus.
Bouquet: Already displays classic and seductive varietal cigar box characters, together with fresh violet and mocha aromas.
Palate: Cedary oak at the front of the palate leads into a complex amalgam of blackcurrant and black cherry flavours with a touch of cigar box, which are perfectly integrated with the soft but firm tannins. The palate is already very complete.
Cellaring: 10 - 15 years
Food: Lamb, beef and venison
 

Langtons Classification 2005 - "Exceptional"

Vanya Cullen has taken her cabernet merlot into the top echelon of Australian cabernet through determination and superb technical skills. The vineyard site is planted on granitic soils in the central Willyabrup subregion of Margaret River. Cullen has adopted biodynamic viticulture principles to "achieve greater individuality of site through working with nature rather than against it". This estate style is about freshness and complexity, structure and suppleness. There are cassis and cedar aromas with fine, beautifully ripe tannins, and earthy, anise, gamy aromas and flavours develop with age. Named for Di Cullen, who established the winery and vineyard with her husband in 1966. Top vintages: 2002, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994.

Tony Harper's Top 10

"The 2003 Cullen Diana Madeline ($90) is a classic. Deeply coloured and densely structured. It's a brooding, well-crafted wine that demands a decade in the cellar, but will repay the wait tenfold."

Peter Forrestal, Top 10 WA Wines
The Sunday Times November 2004

"Over the past decade, Vanya Cullen has refined this stellar blend. It has been consistently outstanding yet becomes finer, more complex and more deserving of cellaring with each passing vintage."