Qty	Item	Description	Price	Total
	Subtotal	$0.00

Home > Our Wines

2020 Tom Cullity Magnum

Vasse Felix, Margaret River’s founding wine estate, was established by Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity in 1967. Among his first plantings were Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec vines, from which he produced the estate’s first red wine. The Tom Cullity descends from these original vines and represents the purest expression of our history, place and vintage; the pinnacle of Vasse Felix.

Dr Tom Cullity
1925-2008

Dr Tom Cullity was a respected Cardiologist from Western Australia. He discovered the great table wines of Europe in the 1950s while in Britain working at the National Heart Hospital. Upon returning home, Tom set himself a mission to make fine wines in WA. He searched extensively for the perfect plot of land, taking guidance from the research of Professor Harold Olmo (1955) and Dr John Gladstones (1965) before establishing an 8 acre vineyard in Cowaramup called Vasse Felix.

Tom’s tenacious and enduring persistence led to the successful creation of Margaret River’s first commercial wines. He is remembered for his pioneering role in establishing the Margaret River Wine Region. The TOM CULLITY is a fitting tribute to this extraordinary legacy.

DOWNLOAD TASTING NOTES

1 bottle limit

Tasting Notes

APPEARANCE Bright garnet. NOSE An incredibly full and complex perfume slowly teases apart, revealing woodsy raspberry pip, salty sea breeze, potpourri with fresh rose petals, a hint of orange peel, crushed rock, mulberry, mulberry leaves and shiitake mushrooms. PALATE A plush, yet beautifully fresh and elegant mouthfeel that remains textured thanks to classically fine tannins. A hint of raspberry and another touch of orange combine with savoury, crushed rock and a subtle cigar nuance, finishing the super fine palate.

Winemaker Notes

WINEMAKERS NOTES A warm and low-yielding vintage has delivered a hallmark Cabernet of intensity and depth, a round and even textured version of the pure TOM CULLITY, ever transparent to the vintage that was. The small sections of Tom’s old plots were early to ripen by the end of March. They were hand-picked, destemmed and transferred to fermenter without crushing and then allowed to ferment with the natural yeast. The Cabernet is static fermented, gently pumped over through a splash tub and then left on skins for up to 29 days to stabilise and make structurally sound. The Malbec and some Cabernet Sauvignon were open fermented, hand plunged and pressed dry. All batches were basket-pressed to fine French oak and matured for 18 months. Only 30% of the barriques were racked and returned once, with the remaining barriques left on lees for the full 18 months. A small amount of Petit Verdot was used as a little seasoning in this warmer vintage. Classic, high-quality old vine portions of Malbec were used, bringing the darker more mulberry fruit to the foreground, adding to the beautiful mix of red-fruited, ancient clonal Cabernet that Tom planted.

Varietals:

Production Notes

81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot

Alcohol:

Alcohol %

14.5

Cellaring Potential:

Aging

Exquisite at four years of age. 20+ years for elegant and savoury aged Cabernet Sauvignon.

Harvested:

Harvest Date

6 - 27 March 2020

Oak:

Fermentation

French oak barrique 54% new, 46% 2-4 year old, 18 months

TA:

Acid

5.8g/L

pH:

3.61

Residual Sugar:

Residual Sugar

0.44g/L

Bottled:

Bottling Date

22 January 2021

Vintage Notes

2020

A stunning vintage with low yields and fantastic quality. Spring development was early, followed by a warm start to Summer which continued into fine, sunny and dry conditions throughout the season. Combined with low yields, this brought an early start to harvest. No early bird pressure with timely Marri Blossom and no disease pressure were ideal. The birds arrived after a rainfall event in late February and we netted the reds, the conditions also cooled slightly extending the season for ideal tannin ripening and fruit flavour preservation.