TOM CULLITY | 'The region's capacity for power, length, tannic profile and fresh fruit'

It was a pleasure to read recent words from Erin Larkin for Robert Parker Wine Advocate ⁠as she delved into the Margaret River Region, its history, winemaking, clones and regional styles of both leading varietals, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.⁠
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We were thrilled to see the report featured 10 Vasse Felix wines, including all seven vintages of the TOM CULLITY, with the 2018 TOM CULLITY the highest-awarded wine in the report out of 423 wines tasted. Full reviews from Erin Larkin can be found below.

"The 2018 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec joins the 2014 as two of the greatest wines ever produced at Vasse Felix, and the explosive core of fruit through the middle and back palate illustrates the interminable length that this wine will endure in the cellar. It's a collector's wine, for sure, but also a wine that you should taste as soon as you can in order to understand what I view as being the region's capacity for power, length, tannic profile and fresh fruit. This is an exemplary wine here."

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2021 Vasse Felix Chardonnay - 92 Points

The 2021 Chardonnay is mealy, svelte and fine, polished, seamless, lovely and classy.

2021 Vasse Felix DHJ1 Single Plot Chardonnay - 96 Points

The 2021 DHJ1 Single Plot Chardonnay is composed of 100% Gin Gin clone hand-picked in Wallcliffe from southeast-facing vines planted in the early 2000s in gravel loam over clay. This had high solids in a wild ferment and matured in seasoned French oak for nine months, prior to two months of settle in tank. Malolactic fermentation was completed, and for those who like finished numbers, it has a pH of 3.16 grams per liter with a total acidity of 7.2 grams per liter. It was organically grown, and the pure free-run juice was bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is pristine and coastal, layered and shelly with brine, saltbush, soft leaf and bay, sage and sun-drenched rocks. It's evocative and legion in its multiplicity—fine but firm, concentrated yet svelte, coastal and authentic but also polished and seamless. It's a special wine made in an unusual style for Vasse, and I like it immensely

2021 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay - 96+ Points

The 2021 Heytesbury Chardonnay is as Heytesbury usually is—complex, firmly textured, coastal and briny, with layers of flesh and spice folded in on the palate. The wine ages tremendously, and the release cycle really does it no favors, as the wine seems to come into its own several years after release. It really is a shame about commercial reality! You get salted white peach, brine, saltbush, green apple skins, tea leaves, graphite/pencil box, tobacco leaf and cilantro. It's a sensational wine, and it will be even better in time. It was fermented wild, matured for nine months in French oak barriques (56% new, the balance one to three years old) and settled for six months in tank thereafter. Super wine. Piercing.

2013 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec Tom Cullity - 95 Points

This wine is made with 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot. It had a 100% wild ferment and 2% carbonic maceration and matured in French oak for 19 months (61% new). The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec Tom Cullity was the first of the new flagship Tom Cullity wine, after the cessation of the Heytesbury red. The 2013 vintage, on release and for several years afterward, was a buxom, full, almost vivacious wine that spoke of purple fruits, tobacco leaf and plenty of fleshy tannin. Here, a decade later, the 2013 Tom Cullity has evolved into a savory wine that speaks of lotus leaf, saltbush, nori, enoki mushroom, blackberry, cassis and the telltale raspberry that I often find in the Tom Cullity Cabernet. It's really coming into its own now, and yet it still has more ascension in front of it. The drinking window here is indicative of the fact that the older Margaret River Cabernets (made from younger vines and with different technology and insights) persist for 40 years with ease; however, I prefer a modicum of primary fruit in wine. Hence, the window indicated. They will live longer if stored in the right conditions.

2014 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - 98 Points

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.

2015 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - 95 Points

Made with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot, this had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and was matured in French oak for 16 months (51% new). The has the lowest alcohol of all the Tom Cullitys, at 14% alcohol (the others are mainly 14.5%). The 2015 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec was a very closed and restrained iteration of this wine on release, and each year that I look at it, I wonder whether or not this will be the year that it emerges. It seems that it is on its way. You get blue and black fruits, licorice, nori (a consistent character for me), resin, lavender/potpourri and black peppercorns. In 2023, the middle to back palate on this wine is a sumptuous display of fruit, telling me perhaps that this might just be its natural state; perhaps I should stop wishing the years away and start drinking these. It is ready now, with a window backward and forward from here.

2016 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - 96+ Points 

This wine was made with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot. It had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and was matured in French oak for 19 months (80% new). The 2016 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec has it all. It is fleshy, ripe, firmly tannic (yet ductile and pliable), luscious in its fruit display (black and purple berries) and seamless in its flow of tannin. It's a brilliant wine, glossy and polished. This will live for eons.

2017 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - 95 Points

Made with 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Malbec and 1% Petit Verdot, this had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and matured in French oak for 19 months (61% new). 2017 was a season that produced extremely varied results across the region. The season was cooler, and there was rain about. The producers who managed their vineyards with courage and diligence were the ones who produced the best wines. The 2017 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec shows some of the fresh leather/sweet heirloom tomato/chewy tobacco characters that I have found across the region that year, but it is, most importantly, accompanied by a core of fresh fruit. Excellent. One of the best in the region this vintage.

2018 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - 98+ Points

Made with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.5% Malbec and 4.5% Petit Verdot, this had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and was matured in French oak for 18 months (59% new). My thoughts on this excellent iteration of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, in this excellent season (unmarred by heat skies, bird threat or any kind of disease pressure), remain unchanged from the last time I tasted it. The 2018 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec joins the 2014 as two of the greatest wines every produced at Vasse Felix, and the explosive core of fruit through the middle and back palate illustrates the interminable length that this wine will endure in the cellar. It's a collector's wine, for sure, but also a wine that you should taste as soon as you can in order to understand what I view as being the region's capacity for power, length, tannic profile and fresh fruit. This is an exemplary wine here.

2019 Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - 97 Points

Made with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Malbec, this had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and was matured in French oak for 17 months (66% new). The 2019 season in Margaret River was cool and wet (in a good, balanced way), and it produced wines of presence, poise, detail and nuance. The only problem with 2019 as a vintage here was its proximity to the great 2018. However, the beauty of a year like 2019 is its ability to satisfy the drinkers who prefer cooler seasons. It's all mood-related for me, and on some days, a cool-season wine is preferred to a powerful one, and vice versa. No right or wrong. The low-yielding 2019 vintage is the first time the Tom Cullity wine did not include any percentage of Petit Verdot (previously, anything from 1% to 4.5% has made it into the blend). So, to the wine. On the nose, the 2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is brooding and dark, with layers of blackberry, resin, chewing tobacco, nori, saltbush, togarashi spice (nori, Valencia orange peel, cayenne pepper, sesame, ginger, poppy seed, white pepper) and licorice root grace the aromatics. In the mouth, the wine follows suit. A seductively dark, satisfying and svelte wine, it's super good. This is a more polarizing style than the universally lauded 2018.

Read the full report HERE.