Professional Ratings

• 98 James Suckling
  Elegant with incredible purity of fruit. Perfumed aromas of red and black currants, juicy ripe plums and tobacco leaves with bitter chocolate, crushed blackberries, dried herbs and cedar. The midweight palate is succulent but not fat, showing finely integrated tannins and great depth. A beautiful, superbly approachable wine that still has a long life ahead in bottle. Great tension and minerality. A blend of 81% cabernet sauvignon and 19% malbec. Drink or hold.
• 97 Australian Wine Companion
  Often when a structured and very young flagship wine is up for tasting, I’ll assess it initially, maybe try it with food, and spend a couple of days thinking about it and retasting. They need respect. But this time, I poured a big glass of Tom Cullity and enjoyed it immediately, as it’s approachable and complete. Even a few days later, no signs of fading. This is exceptional. There’s a certain refinement within, almost open-knit. A whorl of dark fruit, from mulberries to red berries, very spicy, very savoury, ferrous, full of nori, licorice, florals and more. It’s complex, shaped by beautifully defined tannins, the length long, the pleasure factor 10 out of 10 with ageability the same.
• 97 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2021 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec was released just earlier this year in 2025, and this will be the only year in which there will be two releases of the wine in the same calendar year. The Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec has been brought forward in its release cycle to three and a half years from harvest, while the Heytesbury Chardonnay—the estate's flagship white wine—has been pushed back into the following year. So in context, the 2021 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is lighter and finer than all of the previous vintage releases, and it shows more of an emphasis on tannin than fruit. I like this, as it is a reflection of the challenging season from whence it came: warm conditions—not hot—and with constant rainfall. This rainfall also brought with it cloud cover, and the harvest started the latest of all vintages, with the exception of the cool 2017 and 2019 seasons.

• 94 Wine Enthusiast
  The rainy 2021 vintage wasn't the easiest for reds in Margaret River, but Vasse Felix's top Cab prevails with a wine that won't, perhaps, go down as its longest lived, but delivers heaps of elegance now. There's a pop of herb-macerated raspberry cordial and red currants from first sniff, with a dusting of pencil lead, coca powder, nori and dried lavender. It's more mid-weight than full, despite a sturdy frame of chalky, ultra fine tannins, thanks to the lucid fruit and lifted acidity.
• 92 Wine Spectator
  Rich and succulent, with bittersweet chocolate, espresso and dried cherry flavors that mingle with rosemary and wild sage aromatics on a dense but polished frame. Details of fresh loam, cigar box and star anise linger, with incredible length and focus. Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Drink now through 2035.