2025 Diana Madeline Legacy Series Solstice Sun
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2025 Diana Madeline Legacy Series Solstice Sun

2025 Diana Madeline Legacy Series Solstice Sun

A generous winter replenished the ancient Wilyabrup soils, setting the foundation for a long, even growing season. Mild, dry conditions, balanced by warm days, cool nights and the cooling influence of the Indian Ocean, allowed Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen with exceptional precision. The result is a wine of remarkable purity and poise, with concentrated black fruit, fine, seamlessly integrated tannins, vibrant natural acidity and the unmistakable elegance and longevity that define our old block Cabernet Sauvignon.


From old-vine biodynamic Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine was harvested in the same 48-hour new moon flower window as the Solly Chardonnay. The grapes were crushed into clay amphorae and left on skins for 13 days before pressing to biodynamic barrels for 4 months. Made without additions, it is a wine of beautiful purity, expressing quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon fruit.

VINEYARD
100% Cullen Vineyard
VARIETIES
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
HARVEST
Harvested on a Flower Day, New Moon the 1st of March
OAK
4 Months in French New Oak
ALCOHOL
13%
Vintage Notes
Tasting Notes
Reviews

Vintage 2025 at Cullen began in early February after a warm, dry growing season capped off by unusually warm conditions in May 2024 that triggered a rare “double budburst” in the Chardonnay – some shoots tried to wake up before winter, then again after, naturally reducing fruitfulness and leaving us with tiny crops and beautifully concentrated fruit. The was some bird pressure early, but the blossom came through halfway, and the birds seemed to disappear overnight.

The result is a set of whites with lifted perfume, texture and depth, slightly softer natural acidity than 2024 making them delicious even in their youth, and a Kevin John Chardonnay that looks especially powerful and refined.

There was no pause before the reds rolled in, and the long, even ripening delivered another brilliant season for Cabernet: dense, savoury and classically structured. Across the board, 2025 trades the sheer heat and power of 2024 for classical perfume and balance. These wines will drink beautifully now and evolve gracefully in the cellar. For more on the 2025 vintage click HERE

  • Colour Deep Mulberry with purple hues, showing balance and vitality
  • Cellar Enjjoy now or cellar up to 20 years
  • Bouquet Lifted aromas of red cherry, cassis and fresh mulberry intertwine with fresh vanilla, cedar, a hint of tobacco and delicate savoury spice
  • Food Margaret River Wagyu, smoked shallot purée and Cabernet jus.
  • Palate Elegant, silky velvet tannins wrap softly around the palate, unfolding into luscious layers of goji berry, cherry, cassis and fresh mulberry. A juicy mid-palate of satsuma plum, ripe cherry and subtle liquorice is framed by clean spice, tobacco leaf, cedar and sandalwood, all beautifully expressing the refined character of Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon

A supreme and stunning wine under this Legacy
Series from Cullen. After crushing to clay amphora, the fruit was left on skins
for 13 days before pressing to biodynamic barrels for four months. There were
no additions, so this is a pure and expressive example of vineyard and region.
Exquisite perfume combinations of violets and red fruits. And then a palate
which is seamlessly and precisely integrated. Tannins provide an energy and
vibrancy supporting the fruit. This is elegance personified, but with the typical
Cullen structural powerhouse driving it.

99 points – Ray Jordan

 

Looking for a very special, limited-release
wine as a Father's Day gift for a serious wine lover? Only around 400 bottles
of this were made. Released this week, it is an impressively complete red
blend, hand harvested on a Biodynamic Flower Day and New Moon in late February.
This inaugural release was made using fruit from the oldest plantings of
cabernet sauvignon from the Cullen Vineyard in Margaret River. This gem from
Vanya Cullen and her biodynamic and organics-focused team is complex, silky and
superbly balanced; immediately accessible in its youth but a potential
cellaring prospect. It paired brilliantly with Asian-braised lamb loin chops.

Winsor Dobbin

A generous winter replenished the ancient Wilyabrup soils, setting the foundation for a long, even growing season. Mild, dry conditions, balanced by warm days, cool nights and the cooling influence of the Indian Ocean, allowed Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen with exceptional precision. The result is a wine of remarkable purity and poise, with concentrated black fruit, fine, seamlessly integrated tannins, vibrant natural acidity and the unmistakable elegance and longevity that define our old block Cabernet Sauvignon.


From old-vine biodynamic Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine was harvested in the same 48-hour new moon flower window as the Solly Chardonnay. The grapes were crushed into clay amphorae and left on skins for 13 days before pressing to biodynamic barrels for 4 months. Made without additions, it is a wine of beautiful purity, expressing quintessential Cabernet Sauvignon fruit.

Vintage Notes

Vintage 2025 at Cullen began in early February after a warm, dry growing season capped off by unusually warm conditions in May 2024 that triggered a rare “double budburst” in the Chardonnay – some shoots tried to wake up before winter, then again after, naturally reducing fruitfulness and leaving us with tiny crops and beautifully concentrated fruit. The was some bird pressure early, but the blossom came through halfway, and the birds seemed to disappear overnight.

The result is a set of whites with lifted perfume, texture and depth, slightly softer natural acidity than 2024 making them delicious even in their youth, and a Kevin John Chardonnay that looks especially powerful and refined.

There was no pause before the reds rolled in, and the long, even ripening delivered another brilliant season for Cabernet: dense, savoury and classically structured. Across the board, 2025 trades the sheer heat and power of 2024 for classical perfume and balance. These wines will drink beautifully now and evolve gracefully in the cellar. For more on the 2025 vintage click HERE

Tasting Notes
  • Colour Deep Mulberry with purple hues, showing balance and vitality
  • Cellar Enjjoy now or cellar up to 20 years
  • Bouquet Lifted aromas of red cherry, cassis and fresh mulberry intertwine with fresh vanilla, cedar, a hint of tobacco and delicate savoury spice
  • Food Margaret River Wagyu, smoked shallot purée and Cabernet jus.
  • Palate Elegant, silky velvet tannins wrap softly around the palate, unfolding into luscious layers of goji berry, cherry, cassis and fresh mulberry. A juicy mid-palate of satsuma plum, ripe cherry and subtle liquorice is framed by clean spice, tobacco leaf, cedar and sandalwood, all beautifully expressing the refined character of Wilyabrup Cabernet Sauvignon
Reviews

A supreme and stunning wine under this Legacy
Series from Cullen. After crushing to clay amphora, the fruit was left on skins
for 13 days before pressing to biodynamic barrels for four months. There were
no additions, so this is a pure and expressive example of vineyard and region.
Exquisite perfume combinations of violets and red fruits. And then a palate
which is seamlessly and precisely integrated. Tannins provide an energy and
vibrancy supporting the fruit. This is elegance personified, but with the typical
Cullen structural powerhouse driving it.

99 points – Ray Jordan

 

Looking for a very special, limited-release
wine as a Father's Day gift for a serious wine lover? Only around 400 bottles
of this were made. Released this week, it is an impressively complete red
blend, hand harvested on a Biodynamic Flower Day and New Moon in late February.
This inaugural release was made using fruit from the oldest plantings of
cabernet sauvignon from the Cullen Vineyard in Margaret River. This gem from
Vanya Cullen and her biodynamic and organics-focused team is complex, silky and
superbly balanced; immediately accessible in its youth but a potential
cellaring prospect. It paired brilliantly with Asian-braised lamb loin chops.

Winsor Dobbin

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