Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec 2014

Professional Ratings

• 98 James Suckling

  A very insightful blend of predominantly cabernet sauvignon with 16% malbec and 4% petit verdot. This is a single-vineyard wine at the pinnacle of the endeavors of Vasse Felix. It opens with red fruits in the redcurrant and red-cherry zone, as well as fresh red and purple flowers with some deeper notes of blue fruit. The palate is the star though. The way that the malbec entwines itself around cabernet's linear tannins and enriches the wine without fundamentally changing its shape is genius. A supple, fresh and commanding Margaret River red. Best from 2022. Screw cap. Top 100 Wine of 2018

• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  This wine was made with 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot. It had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and matured in French oak for 18 months (62% new). With full disclosure, this 2014 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec was and still is my favorite vintage, and each year it expands in its effortless grace and beauty. It is a ripping wine, the clearest picture through four lenses (season, vineyard, producer, region) that I can conceive of. You get raspberry leaf tea, brine, nori, sun-dried kelp, cassis, bramble, tobacco leaf (both fresh and chewing) and black olives in brine, and the tannins are fully embedded into the fruit. Its seamless, finely milled and embossed even. Excellent, excellent, excellent.

• 94 Wine Enthusiast

  This is only the second vintage of Vasse Felix's top tier wine, the first was released during the winery's—and the region's—50th anniversary in 2017. A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot, it offers aromas of red currant, mocha, sea spray, smoke, potpourri spice, green olive and graphite. The oak is there—tight-grained and a tad flashy—but it's a string to the bow rather than the whole orchestra, and it will settle with time. Overall, it's elegant, complex and should age remarkably well.

• 92 Wine Spectator

  The wild blueberry and blackberry flavors are intense, set on a tight frame, with accents of bay leaf and black pepper, tightening the velvety grip on the finish. Shows terrific focus and concentration. Should be exciting to see this evolve further. Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Drink now through 2035

• 91 Decanter

  Restrained plum, licorice and meaty oak nose, umami character. Elegant dark red berry palate, lovely freshness and fine layered texture.