VINTAGE REPORTS

  
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1974   Good Season, but the birds were extremely bad and caused a lot of damage.
0.5 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested from 19 acres. The vines were three years old.		  
       
1975   A very hot and dry vintage, good Marri flowering and therefore no bird damage.  First drinkable wine made.  8.2 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon. (Just under half a ton per acre).  
       
1976   A very cool season.  Long slow ripening.  An excellent year for Cabernet Sauvignon. 14 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon from 19 acres.  The Cabernet Sauvignon received a gold medal in the Royal Hobart Wine show.  
       
1977   Good winter rains.  Due to bird problems the harvest was early.  14 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon.  
       
1978   A very mild summer.  Still having bird problems.  Very tannic reds produced.  Some problems during fermentation due to the effects of cyclone Alby.  As a consequence the electricity was cut off for three days.  Alby hit Cullens and caused defoliation of the vines after harvest.  One ton per acre of Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested.  
       
1979   An excellent season with good crops, however due to the defoliation of the vines by Cyclone Alby, the buds regrew again before pruning.  The Cabernet Sauvignon had lower acids.  Whether this was due to the defoliation remains to be seen.  Rain caused splitting in the semillon.  No bird problems.  48 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine won a gold medal in the Perth and Melbourne Shows.  
       
1980   A very hot dry summer with good winter rains.  Good crop levels.  
       
1981   Another hot and dry vintage.  
       
1982   Excellent rains during the growing season in December.  Long and cool ripening period gave another great season for Cabernet Sauvignon.  
       
1983   Very hot and dry.  Low acid levels and high tannins.  Lots of bush fires. Poor winter rains.  The decision to make only one red wine Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot instead of the varietal Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot.  It took us three years to sell it!  
       
1984   It was a long ripening season, no birds and good crop levels.  The first trialling of the lyre trellis on Sauvignon Blanc.  This trellis gave riper fruit with better flavour development.  There was crop thinning on the semillon.  
       
1985   Hot and dry vintage.  Rain in March.  Excellent flavours in the red wines  
       
1986   Good season.  Wines with great depth of flavour.  Cool and slow ripening period. Introduced Malolactic fermentation into the red wines.  
       
1987   Drought year with very low cropping levels.  
       
1988   Another drought year. Very hot and dry.  Low yields of less than one ton per acre. First trial area of Scott Henry trellissing on Cabernet Sauvignon.  First of the reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlots produced.  
       
1989   Good winter and unfortunately summer rains.  High cropping levels produced for the first time, wines that are better drunk young.  (Except for the reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot.)  
       
1990   Good winter rains and good cropping levels gave wines of great stature.  All Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon put onto Lyre Trellis system.  
       
1991   Very hot and dry.  Good crop levels.  Fantastic red wine vintage with ripe tannins and good acidity.  Wines for cellaring.  
       
1992   Classic season with good crops.  First year that Malolactic fermentation was introduced into the Chardonnay.  Good for both red wines and white wines.  
       
1993   Cool and dry.  Some powdery mildew even though there was no rain.  The conditions were overcast and temperatures moderate.  Hail in November halved the crop levels in Sauvignon Blanc Semillon and Chardonnay.  This produced a small amount of wine with great concentration and higher than usual natural acidity.  
       
1994   First of the drought years.  Hot and dry with very low yields.  Fabulous for red wines.  
       
1995   The 1995 vintage came after the hot and dry season of 1994.  Like the previous year, little significant rainfall was recorded between October and the harvest which occurred in late March.  Crops were quite low, as the vines had regulated themselves following the hot season.  Similarly to 1994 it is in these conditions, if the vines are in good health and not carrying too much crop load, that they produce their greatest fruit concentration.  Such was the case at Cullen in 1995, one of the fastest ripening seasons ever.  The harvest finished at the end of March.  That is when we normally start harvesting the Cabernet Sauvignon.  One of the greatest vintages ever for Cullen, both for red and for white wine.  This was the last year that the Reserve wines were made.  They were replaced by the four flagship wines .i.e. Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot.  
       
1996   Following the drought conditions of the previous two years, 1996 saw the weather return to normal conditions.  It was a warm and dry season, leading into the harvest, and vines across the region had good crops which did not stress due to the clement conditions. Many fine reds and whites were produced from this excellent harvest.  
       
1997   This year saw ample spring rainfall in the region, however damage to the Chardonnay from strong winds in October just as the vines were budding caused drastic crop reductions.  We enjoyed a mild, warm ripening period, but were hit by unwelcome rainfall early in March.  Crops of Chardonnay were once again reduced to pitiful quantities due to high winds in October and hail in December.  Generally speaking crops were low and the vintage started, then stopped.  Being an older, lower yielding vineyard, the rain did not affect the crop and the Indian Summer which returned in late March (so typical of Margaret River), provided excellent final ripening for the Cabernet Sauvignon.  
       
1998   Unpredictable elements yet again caused the usual stresses and strains associated with harvest time.  A promising start to picking of the Chardonnay was dampened by two particularly poorly timed downpours of rain.  The first, in March, delayed picking by a week, and the second in April, heralded the earliest break to the season. Fortunately at Cullens, neither rains had much effect on fruit quality, in fact for the Cabernet Sauvignon it was beneficial in terms of vine health and physiological ripeness of the fruit.  After the rains the grapes were left on to ripen and the fruit was harvested at desired sugar and flavour levels.  
       
1999   One of the most unusual harvests on record.  The early summer was cool with southerly winds dominating. This gave the vintage a late start and the whites attained ripeness with the lower sugar readings.  Cyclone Vance, which created havoc around Australia, threatened the vintage just as the whites were harvested and the reds were approaching ripeness.  Fortunately Vance diverted eastward and the reds were saved.  After this, nature turned on the most glorious Indian summer which lasted for weeks.  Excellent vintage for reds and whites.  
       
2000   Another unusual season.  The hottest December on record was followed by rain in early January.  Cyclones Steve, Norman and Olga created a bit of a touch and go vintage.  The growing season was blessed with good rains, which gave the vines good health and all of the grape varieties ripened at the same time, making tank space in the winery a problem.  Harvest finished three weeks earlier than usual, and there is great potential for Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  
       
2001   The driest season for 126 years. Possibly one of the most brilliant harvests for several years in terms of evenness of temperature . This meant that both physiological ripeness and acid retention were at an optimum. Good crops with yields averaging 2.5 tons per acre gave excellent fruit density, ripeness of tannins, and fruit flavours. It was felt that organic practices used at Cullen Wines helped the flavour development in this dry vintage.  
       
2002   It was a cool harvest with fantastic natural acidities and flavour. Ripening was very uneven due to the warm winter in 2001. This particularly affected the early ripening varieties such as chardonnay and pinot noir. It is the first vintage that cabernet sauvignon was harvested before all of the chardonnay had been removed from the vine. Due to this uneven bud-burst our vineyards suffered yield losses of at least 50% for chardonnay. The winemaker was in the vineyard sampling the grapes to get the flavour profile right at the time of harvest as history was not a good guide for ripening order of different varieties in 2002. In general the quantities of whites were down and the reds were average yield. Heavy rain in April meant that it was a good vintage to harvest early. There will be some great wines but you will have to look for them, particularly for the red wines. As a general comment the wines from the 2002 vintage will be very fine and elegant with the whites having great potential to age well.  
       
2003   A classical Margaret River vintage with vine showing good health leading to excellent physiological ripeness particularly in Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Yields of white grapes were generally down especially Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Rainfall throughout the growing season was less than average but did not cause any problems in terms of vine stress. In fact, vine health was so good that they kept on growing after veraison, which is unusual. Flavour and tannin ripeness was great for Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. The Cabernet fruit showed a beautiful balance of flavours that should show well when the wines have finished their fermentations. The grapes that were harvested before the rain in April will be of a better quality than those harvested after the rain and at Cullen all the grapes were harvested before the rain.  
       
2004   There was an excellent growing season with good rains finishing in November.
As a consequence there was outstanding vine health and above average crops. The cool summer temperatures slowed ripening a little with fruit condition staying intact due to the dry conditions throughout January and February. Varieties such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc showed good balance and flavour as a consequence of these cool and dry conditions. This was until the heat wave in mid March, which ripened all the grapes at once. There was then a sprint to the end of harvest with the heat producing some outstanding red wines. Best varieties, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.		  
       
2005   The dry and cool growing season produced fruit with very good natural acidities, good colour and flavour. This was especially true for the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Yields were slightly below average due to smaller bunch weights rather than less bunch numbers in both red and white varieties. The abundance of Marri blossom kept bird damaged fruit to a minimum. Harvesting was completed before the rain fell on the 30th March. We forecast outstanding red and white wines with elegant flavours and composition with the Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties starring. This was our second biodynamic vintage and we are very pleased with the perceived increase in fruit brightness.  
       
2006   The 2006 vintage was the coolest vintage since 1982 and started with having the coolest December on record. This meant that everything was more than one month behind in ripening time and this could have potentially created problems with ripening. However we believe there are some outstanding wines, particularly with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. We have fermented most of our wines this year with natural yeasts and no additions and look forward to the individuality of place being presented in this way. Cabernet Sauvignon show some wonderfully elegant wines with lower alcohols and good fruit concentration. Phenological and physiological ripeness were achieved in the reds with lower sugar levels, hence giving our wines lower alcohol which is a desired direction for us.

Overall the most individual wines we have made, and this is across the board reflecting the vintage and place perfectly.

  
       
2007   The 2007 vintage commenced with the harvesting of the first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes on 26 January, which was the earliest start ever recorded at Cullen Wines. This contrasted markedly with the previous year, when vintage did not commence until 12 March, which represented the latest recorded start to a vintage at our winery!

The early 2007 vintage was brought on by more rapid growth of the vines than is usual in the spring growing period. Although the warm weather during this period was reflected in temperatures that were 2.5º C above average, the temperature during the day never became excessive.

The strong health of the vines at the end of winter in 2006 enabled them to capitilise on the stimulus provided by the warmer spring weather, ensuring a good start for their growth in the 2007 vintage.

In addition, the two bursts of good rainfall at the peak of the growing season in November were accompanied by lightning. This electrical activity had the effect of converting nitrogen to nitrates and gave the vines a highly beneficial shower of natural liquid nitrogen fertiliser at just the right moment and thereby boosting their growth.

The period immediately leading up to vintage was blessed by moderate temperatures and very few really hot days.

Overall conditions during the 2007 vintage were good and Margaret River’s famed climate for producing grapes shone through yet again. From the above, it can be seen that Cullen Wines are confident that the 2007 vintage is destined to produce very good red and white wines.

 
       
2008   The substantial rainfall and moderate temperatures that prevailed during the spring and early summer of 2007 were ideal for encouraging growth and fruit development. However, the excessive rains and winds that were experienced on occasions during September and October did lead to some splicing of the vine leaves and a reduction in the volume of fruit.

The warm temperatures in January, which only advanced the time of harvest slightly from the norm, proved ideal for optimising the final development of the fruit. The berries of all varieties were small and produced highly concentrated juices. There is every indication that 2008 will be an outstanding vintage for both white and red wines.