Winemaker Notes
Bright garnet in color with an incredibly fruit expressive aroma evoking blackcurrant coulis, with hints of dried rosemary and fresh basil. Pretty floral perfumes of lavender and lily intermingle with traces of native summer forest and fungi. Beautiful transparency of vineyard site is on display as the delicate scent of dried peppy leaf on the banks of the Wilyabrup Brook lifts in the glass, accompanied by cacao, crayon and an intriguing musk like fragrance. A succulent, creamy entrance brimming with vibrant fruit weight. The concentrated, elegant body embeds on the palate, framed by a super fine, powdery tannin structure. Relaxed in its completeness, the comfortable dry finish lingers on with tantalizing flavors of blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and sweet aromatic oak.
Blend: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
It’s often a shame to taste a flagship wine so young when it has decades ahead of it, but that feeling lasted a nanosecond before turning to respect, then 'oh my, this is awesome'. Sometimes I get very excited. In this seductive youthful stage, it’s fragrant with florals from violets to lavender, plenty of blueberries and bramble all wonderfully savoury with lots of warming spices. The palate offers charm, detail and excellent structure with velveteen tannins and a fine acid line teasing this to a long, long finish.
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James Suckling
A dense and layered red with blackcurrants, mushroom, bark, and forest flowers with hints of fresh sage. Medium-bodied with a pretty core of currants and sweet berries with hints of dried and fresh herbs. So creamy and polished in texture. Extremely long and persistent. Drinks wonderfully now. Savory. A cabernet sauvignon and malbec blend. Own roots.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec comes from a cool, wet season. While it wasn't as cold or as wet as 2017 before it, it could certainly be grouped in a similar category. And, as people are wont to do, the wines were compared to the great 2018 vintage that came before it and described as being two sides of the same coin—one warm and powerful and the other cool and refined. The truth is, both were excellent years, and this 2019 shows heightened floral perfume, fine tannins and an attractive graphite precision on the palate. Violets, bay leaf, tobacco, nori, dark chocolate and tapenade abound.
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Wine Enthusiast
This comparatively cool vintage of Vasse Felix's top red is beautifully perfumed and lucid, with pronounced savory, earthy aromas like beet root, tobacco and dried Mediterranean herbs and florals. They weave between bright, tangy currant fruit and soft mocha characters. The silky, slinky palate is expertly structured, the fine, talc-like tannins creeping in slowly, then taking over at the long finish. A gorgeous tightrope of power and elegance, and the epitome of class, this is a complete wine now but could age for several decades more.
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Wine & Spirits
In 1968, when Tom Cullity planted cabernet sauvignon and malbec in Margaret River, he was one of the early pioneers. Virginia Willcock farms the descendants of those vines for this top selection from the estate. Her 2019, from a low-yielding vintage, has a beautiful wild-blueberry scent, a cabernet ready to fill the mouth with its concentration, with the taste of fruit grown in a temperately cool place. The wine’s floral spice lasts, edged by the grassy herbal cut of its tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Elegant but commands presence, with juicy black cherry, blackberry and blueberry flavors, plus savory Kalamata olive, dried rosemary and bay leaf notes. Reveals accents of cigar box and salted black licorice that linger on the velvety, harmonious finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Home to some of Australia’s most elegant and long-lived red and white wines, Margaret River is situated in the farthest reaches of Western Australia. Relatively warm and dry, the region is cooled by breezes from the Indian Ocean. Margaret River takes some inspiration from Bordeaux, producing top-quality Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux Blends with firm structure, mouthwatering acidity, balanced alcohol and notes of herbs and spice. For white wines, refreshing blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon as well as complex, age-worthy Chardonnays are regional specialties.