The Cabernet Society | Freddy Bulmer

From our table to yours, a collection of five decades of moments with the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon as shared by our Cabernet Society in celebration of the 50th vintage release.

Author | Freddy Bulmer, Wine Buyer, The Wine Society

For me, wine is first and foremost about people. Whether that’s the people you share a bottle with or the people who helped to produce it. One of the great joys of working in this industry is sitting around a table while a bottle provides the perfect backdrop for chat, laughter and doubtless some form of inspiration for a hare-brained plan…

I have been lucky enough to drink Vasse Felix wines on numerous occasions and every single time has been a treat, whether it’s a memorable back vintage of chardonnay or any opportunity to taste TOM CULLITY, however it’s on the day that I am writing this that I have been lucky enough to share a particularly delicious bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon in my kitchen at home, with a couple of dear colleagues.

The wine world ebbs and flows. Or it seems to for me anyway. There are periods of great productivity and frantic energy, preceding or following moments of lethargy and vacuums of enthusiasm. A two week period of the latter was bought to an uplifting full-stop today thanks to a pre-released bottle of 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine who’s vibrant energy, plush fruit and luxuriousness catapulted me face-first into a tidal wave of excitement, uplift and much needed inspiration. Conversation with my lunch guests flowed like a river as we drank this bottle; ideas ignited like flames and once again, all was right in the world of wine. Or at least my own little world of wine.

To me this is an example of the power of good wine. That bottle played every bit as much of an important part in a humble lunch as any of the rest of us around the table. Perhaps even more, as it was the catalyst and driving force we needed and the treat that we all felt we deserved.
 

More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.

31/01/2024 at 1:14 PM Permalink

Vintage 2024 | Welcome to Vintage 2024

As is tradition, we christened the beginning of vintage with a bacon and egg roll at the annual vintage breakfast this morning. The perfect opportunity for our vintage crew to settle in, meet the broader Vasse Felix team and share stories of vintages past and present, from wine regions around the world.⁠ The action began early last week, with the first hand harvest of our Gibraltar Chardonnay blocks, more on that here.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the all-important job of picking and nurturing our 2024 harvest. We look forward to sharing more behind-the-scenes vintage action over the coming weeks.⁠

22/01/2024 at 2:49 PM Permalink

Vintage 2024 | First Pick

Vintage 2024 has begun, with the first pick taking place in our Gibraltar G Block Chardonnay in the Home Vineyard. These chardonnay parcels often make it into our Premier Chardonnay due to their elegance, power and wild complexity.

Warm and steady conditions have heralded a slightly early start to harvest this vintage, with quality and yields looking very promising. Explore scenes from this first pick below.

18/01/2024 at 3:08 PM Permalink

The Cabernet Society | Corinne Mui

From our table to yours, a collection of five decades of moments with the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon as shared by our Cabernet Society in celebration of the 50th vintage release.

Author | Corinne Mui, Founder Corvino Wine School, Wine Educator & Writer

Vasse Felix was the first Margaret River winery I visited back when I was travelling with my family in my university years. I didn’t know much about wine at the time but as my family love history, we chose to go to Margaret River’s founding wine estate to learn about their wines and unique story. 

It was the Vasse Felix cabernet that I tasted on that visit that sparked my interest in Margaret River wines. There is something special and unique about Margaret River cabernets. They are approachable, powerful yet elegant. The sea spray perfume brings in great freshness and energy and the lovely chalky tannins evoke shape and complexity. They are definitely world class cabernets with a strong sense of place, distinctive of the Margaret River region. 

This was affirmed at a recent international top cabernet blind tasting event I attended where a few of the Margaret River cabernets really stood out amongst other notable cabernets from the rest of the world. The charisma of Margaret River cabernets is really something!
 

More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.

15/01/2024 at 4:06 PM Permalink

The Cabernet Society | The Hospitality Crew

From our table to yours, a collection of five decades of moments with the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon as shared by our Cabernet Society in celebration of the 50th vintage release.

Author | Caleb Dreaver, Hospitality Manager Vasse Felix

When I moved to Margaret River in 2011 the region's Cabernet Sauvignon was an "acquaintance” rather than a friend. Coming off the back of the big bold red craze in Perth, my palate couldn’t comprehend the subtlety of this beautiful, elegant wine. 

My tastes quickly evolved to appreciate the love and care that Vasse Felix puts into every aspect from vine to bottle. Cabernet for me is a wine that can be fresh and exciting and very quickly gone from the glass, or conversely, still sitting there an hour later as I contemplate the many layers it has to offer. It works wonderfully with food, and a decade of dish matching in our Restaurant has cemented in my mind the incredible versatility of this wine. 

A special vintage for me is the 2021, marking both Vasse Felix's 50th vintage and 10 years of my personal journey with Vasse Felix Cabernet. It’s also ridiculously delicious.
 

Author | Cam Jones, Head Chef Vasse Felix

The first time I had the pleasure of opening a bottle of the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon was in celebration; our team had just been awarded WA Good Food Guide's Regional Restaurant of the Year, along with a three star ranking.

I was also celebrating a personal milestone, my partner and I were celebrating our anniversary. In honour of the occasion, we hiked up to the Castle Bay whale lookout, taking with us a picnic of cheese, charcuterie, and a bottle of the 50th vintage Cabernet. 

While sitting there enjoying great food and incredible wine with my favourite person, I realised I've never felt more at home than I do here in the southwest.

It was week of many great memories and a couple of nights I will never forget.
 

More on 50 Years of Margaret River Cabernet here.

08/01/2024 at 5:34 PM Permalink

Vasse Felix Icons in Langtons Classification of Australian Wine 8th Edition

We are thrilled to see our two Icon wines, the TOM CULLITY and Heytesbury Chardonnay, again feature in the Langtons Classification 8th Edition.

LANGTONS Classification is the most respected secondary market guide to fine and luxury Australian wines. Compiled since 1990 and released at approximately four-year intervals, the Classification comprises the most sought-after Australian fine wines based on their strong track record at auction.

The latest Classification features 100 Australian wines, 12 of which are from Margaret River, including Vasse Felix Icons, the TOM CULLITY Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec and the Heytesbury Chardonnay.

Discover the two reviews below or head to Langtons Classification for the full list.

'CLASSIFIED'
The best of Australian winemaking practices, vineyard provenance and regional voice.

Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec - Classified

Sourced from the original vines planted in 1967 by Doctor Tom Cullity, the Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec represents a multi-generational journey of innovation based on trial and error. Based on Houghton clone cabernet sauvignon and malbec, refined vinification techniques and maturation for 18 months in French oak, this wine validates and continues the Heytesbury narrative. Vibrant blackcurrant and herb garden aromas, fine-grained tannins, sous-bois (forest floor) notes, sage, generous concentration and integrated new oak mark the style.

Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay - Classified

The glorious and expressive Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay is made up of individual sections of the Gin Gin clone. It evokes an exquisite balance between vineyards, emotional sensibility and technical brilliance. Batch vinification, bâttonage and maturation for nine months in around 60% (barely detectable) new and seasoned French oak results in a benchmark style with superb grapefruit and flinty aromatics, al dente textures and creamy complexity.

14/12/2023 at 5:38 PM Permalink

The Cabernet Society | Hamish Guthrie

From our table to yours, a collection of five decades of moments with the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon as shared by our Cabernet Society in celebration of the 50th vintage release.

Author | Hamish Guthrie, Founding Principal, Hecker Guthrie

The Melbourne based interior designer behind Vasse Felix Estate's interior transformation shares his thoughts on the intricate process of designing a space fit to honour the Vasse Felix wine collection, in particular, the king of all grape varietals; Cabernet.
 

In designing the Estate spaces, we overlaid the robust architecture with an interior that balances the qualities of 'Raw' and 'Refined'. The inspiration of ‘Raw to Refined’ evolved from the idea of imbuing the interior spaces with a strong and meaningful connection to the wine collection itself.

In the same way that the elegance and the refinement of the bottled wine sits as a counterpoint to the rawness of the landscape and the component parts of the wine, through the exacting process of its makers. So to, the interiors were to be a clear expression of place (terroir) through materiality and palette, of its makers through design form and craft, culminating in a refined and heightened experience around the celebration and education of the wine at an intimate level of connection.

Whilst the wine history of Margaret River is a relatively young one, the history and lineage of its pioneering endeavours is indeed a significant one.

The Vault is an immersive space celebrating both the origins and the evolution of Vasse Felix, and the Margaret River Region, as makers of some of the world's finest wines. Through design, we set about creating a linear narrative celebrating this evolution from its modest and exploratory beginnings, through 50 years of vintage, to the confident and clear expression of the archetypal Cabernet Sauvignon that we celebrate today.

Located below the cellar door, we have created a heightened experience, playing off the dark and moody subterranean qualities of this space, to both elevate the Cabernet to ‘hero’ whilst showcasing the narrative of place, its pioneers and the vineyard itself for those wanting to delve deeper into their wine experience.

05/12/2023 at 10:15 AM Permalink

WA Good Food Guide Regional Restaurant of the Year, 2024

We were thrilled to celebrate the Vasse Felix Restaurant team last week as they were named Top Regional Restaurant in WA, as well as being one of three venues to receive a coveted '3 Star Rating' in the WA Good Food Guide Awards;

"The restaurant business is tough, and many would argue it can be tougher in the regions. But, visit Vasse Felix year on year and you’ll see a continuity that any restaurateur would envy, wherever they are. Service is polished yet has the appropriate amount of country charm under Caleb Dreaver, and despite a changing of the guard in the kitchen newly minted head chef Cameron Jones is flexing his creativity and talent. There can be a temptation to categorise winery restaurants as a class apart, but really Vasse Felix is simply a class act."

The WA Good Food Guide Top 100 Restaurants list is generated from over 5,000 restaurants in Western Australia. It was a joy to be recognised amongst such esteemed company, with the full review from the WAGFG judges below.
 

Peerless plates meet iconic wines at one of WA’s very best.

"Chef Brendan Pratt’s departure means that the reins have been handed over to Cameron Jones in the Vasse Felix kitchen, but this winery-restaurant still remains one of the state’s essential bookings. Above all, it’s because of its unbridled commitment to going all out, layering fat, acid, salt, umami and all the rest in dishes that almost radiate flavour.

Take an opener of fried flatbread topped with beef intercostal meat, strips of translucent fried lardo, tomato and anchovy XO sauce and burnt butter: a more is more moment that really works. Then there’s the half quail, deboned and stuffed with mortadella, then glazed to a cartoon-like sheen as if it were char siu – pure deliciousness in novel form.

Mains see toothfish coated in salted egg glaze brought back into check with onion dashi, spring onion and pickled enoki, while quadretti are heaped to form a sort of free-form lasagne, with onion and kombu béchamel and spinach and hazelnut pesto. All the while, the service remains pitch-perfect, charming but never stuffy, with estate wines bringing an air of luxury to match the room and the setting. Occasion dining, that’s undimmed."

A huge congratulations to all of the outstanding venues in the 2024 WA Good Food Guide Top 100. Explore the full list here.

29/11/2023 at 9:23 AM Permalink

The Cabernet Society | Virginia Willcock

From our table to yours, a collection of five decades of moments with the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon as shared by our Cabernet Society in celebration of the 50th vintage release.

Author | Virginia Willcock, Chief Winemaker

Paul had invited Tom Cullity to the Estate in 2007, the first time (we believe) he had been back to the vineyard since he sold Vasse Felix in 1984. Paul wanted to discuss the idea of making a wine called “TOM CULLITY” and I was fortunate enough to be invited to the lunch as the Winemaker. I mentioned that I had tried one of his early wines, the 1974 Cabernet, and I said it had a remarkable perfume of Peppy Trees, and that I thought the Cabernet from his original vines had a similar character in the vintage just gone.

He laughed and said, “Peppy Trees….that figures. When we racked the wine from the vat, we had no cleaning equipment to clean the lees out, so we grabbed a bucket of water from the Wilyabrup Brook and snapped a branch of the Peppy Tree outside the cellar and used the branch as a broom to clean the vat before we returned the wine back into the vat….no wonder it smelt like a Peppy Tree.”

18/11/2023 at 6:30 PM Permalink

A surprising summer Cabernet pairing

TUNA, UMEBOSHI, BONITO, SHIITAKE, POTATO CRISPS

By Head Chef Cam Jones

A truly unique summer pairing designed to highlight the 2021 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon. 

INGREDIENTS

Umeboshi dressing 
1 shallot finely grated
2cm piece of ginger finely grated 100ml light soy 
100ml mirin
100ml rice vinegar 
15ml sesame oil 
40g umeboshi paste (or whole umeboshi plums finely diced) 

Tuna 
400g fresh, high quality tuna fillet

Bonito Emulsion 
1 egg 
40ml light soy 
4ml sesame oil 
15ml rice vinegar 
20g bonito 
250ml vegetable oil 

Shiitake 
100g shiitake mushrooms diced
40ml vegetable oil 
5ml sesame oil 
1 dried bay leaf 
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1tsp toasted sesame seeds
salt 

Potato Crisp
Your preferred potato chip, we recommend Kettle Sea Salt

METHOD

Umeboshi dressing (prep 24hrs prior)
Combine all Umeboshi dressing ingredients and store in the fridge.

Tuna
Dice Tuna, cover and leave in fridge.

Bonito Emulsion
Add egg, light soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and bonito to blender. Blend on high for one minute. Continue blending on medium and slowly add oil until combined. Set aside.

Shiitake
Heat oil in frying pan over high heat and sauté the shiitake mushrooms until lightly golden. 
Add sesame oil, sesame seeds, bay leaf and thyme and toss in the pan for three minutes.
Set aside and keep room temperature (remove thyme stalk and bay leaf before serving).

To Serve
Place 2 tbsp of bonito emulsion in the bottom of each bowl.
Divide tuna into eight portions and place on bonito emulsion.
Divide shiitake mushrooms into eight portions and place on top of tuna.
Dress tuna and shiitake with 3 tbsp of umeboshi dressing.
Cover with potato crisps.
Enjoy with the Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon.

13/11/2023 at 11:42 AM Permalink