2005 DIANA MADELINE

  
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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.

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 Diana Cullen, who established the winery and vineyard with her husband in 1966. Top vintages: 2002, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994.		  
 
     
Tasting notes   Reviews
     

This is a great wine and one of the very finest Bordeaux blends ever produced at Cullens. It was made using all of the five red grape varieties of Bordeaux, with Cabernet Sauvignon comprising three quarters of the blend. Merlot was the next most important contributor with 16%, followed by Malbec (5%), Cabernet Franc (4%) and Petit Verdot (1%). The wine has benefited from having been matured for 19 months in French barriques, of which 70% were new.

Colour: Magnificent deep inky red with strong purple meiniscus
Bouquet: Youthful, concentrated and intense pot-pourri of dark berry fruits
Palate: Powerful and sumptuous, with the wonderful black cherry flavours in the middle palate being backed by fine-grained tannins and leading into a rewardingly long and lingering finish
Cellaring: At least 15 years
Food: All strongly flavoured meat dishes and cheese
 

Jeremy Oliver, The Australian Wine Annual 2008

Wow! One of the stars of a tasting of Australia’s finest cabernet that I recently staged in Tokyo, this glorious young cabernet marries the typically layered Cullen richness, fruit ripeness and glorious oak handling with a natural extract of the best tannin I have seen from Margaret River. If you never thought Australia would achieve the extract and structure of the finest Bordeaux, you’d better buy this.

Vic Crossland & Ray Jordan, The West Australian, Fresh
 July 5, 2007

A product of the biodynamic approach at Cullen. This has to be one of the very best in this distinguished line. Classic Bordeaux blend of predominantly cabernet with merlot, malbec, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Silky fine tannins, seamlessly integrated French oak and wonderfully defined and refined fruit. It’s a beautifully elegant wine with a powerful engine room that will support extended cellaring. Great wine. 97/100 Drink now to 2020.

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, Josh Raynolds
93 / 100

Bright purple. Intriguingly perfumed aromas of vibrant red- and blackcurrant, cherry and plum brightened by nervy mineral and fresh rose notes. Crisp and wonderfully focused red fruit flavors show no rough edges and offer impressive depth; the floral quality builds with air and a hint of anise arrives on the back. This really expands and gains in sweetness on the long, spicy finish. Possesses the balance and concentration to repay at least another six years of cellaring. (Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA)