It’s always difficult when beginning a piece about Cullen, the brilliant small winery and vineyard in Margaret River. You know what you need to of its heritage and founding by Dr Kevin and Di Cullen in 1971 and besides, this isn’t a history book. You know of its stellar reputation and that it’s based entirely on quality and not hype. You know that its winemaker, Vanya Cullen, is blessed with talents envied by many in her profession and that the qualities of her wines are achieved without compromise. You know they are not cheap, but if you know anything at all about the price of quality in Europe or the US you will admit, if perhaps grudgingly, that Cullen’s wine is indeed priced competitively. So what can I tell you that you don’t already know? That the forthcoming release of Cullen wines, detailed for early July, is quite possibly its best collection yet. It also represents a confirmation of the direction in which Vanya Cullen has chosen for her wines, which in company with some pretty high-aptitude winemaking appears also to be even more focused on what the vineyard is delivering. Vanya Cullen shares with many of her neighbours in Margaret River an abiding affection for the local version of the white Bordeaux blend, but has let her Sauvignon Blanc Semillon develop in a way that is neither Bordeaux or even Loire-like in expression. Where past vintages over the last decade have been juicier, fleshy and punchy wines considerably beefed up by high quality but assertive oak, there’s an appealing leanness and fineness about the 1999 wine and the two vintages that precede it. Toning down on oak influence, these deeply flavoured wines deliver a seamless integration of bright pear, citrus and melon fruit, creamy oak and lees-derived flavours and textures, with a brightness and tightness of mineral acids. If that’s not enough to work on in the matching of foods, their occasional minty and coriander-like spiciness simply adds to their diversity of flavour. There’s been a similar evolution with the Chardonnay, which has moved away from the fleshiness and texture of the exceptional 1996 vintage and the unusually low-cropped and concentrated 1997 wine to a more lean and austere expression in both 1998 and 1999. Their fruit is more subdued, but hardly less expressive. These later vintages also reflect a fresh lemony aroma that Vanya Cullen believes to be a particular flavour hallmark of the Cullen vineyard’s terroir. Having experimented with it in chardonnay since 1996, Vanya Cullen introduced 100% wild yeast fermentation to this wine in 1998, finding its major role was to contribute to the wine’s texture. ‘That’s the elusive thing’, she says. ‘Trying to build a wine with texture, especially with sauvignon blanc and semillon, which tend to be a little short in length. The wild yeasts give a silky finish that I find incredibly appealing, especially with chardonnay, that helps to finish a wine in a complete way. It also helps the Chardonnay to age more slowly.’ Cullen’s decision to move away from attempting to make a sophisticated long-term Pinot Noir is well known and has produced a brace of generously flavoured wines of sweet varietal perfume and clear, uncluttered ripe berry fruits. They evolve relatively quickly into the spicy undergrowth flavour spectrum, carrying just enough weight of fine tannins to be taken seriously enough, but up to a point. The Cullens simply want them to be bought, opened and enjoyed for what they are. Since the last vintage of the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot in 1994, the jewel in the Cullen crown has unquestionably been its Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. Since the remarkably powerful 1995 vintage this majestic wine has taken up the ‘Reserve’ mantle, being grown, made and matured precisely in the same fashion. The Cullens were also wise enough to realise that there was very little point in continuing to split the hairs between their two stellar red wines, creating a scarcity in some and without ever intending to do so, potentially downgrading the remainder. It’s my conviction that with its classical elegance and refinement the 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot is a cut higher even than the astonishing 1995 wine. It follows a lighter and slightly more herbal result from 1997 and a riper, if less distinctive wine from 1996. The 1997 vintage is a more supple, finely crafted and willowy blend whose delicate cassis and mulberry aromas are set against a lightly minty, mushroomy background. The bright red berry fruits and tobacco/capsicum-like aromas of the 1996 vintage precede a fleshy, ripe palate of precise, clear flavours and elegance. It is likely to improve and live for longer than the 1997. The concept of the true estate wine is embodied in these four vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. Each harks from an entirely different season, each can be easily distinguished apart from the others in a tasting, yet each bear the stamp of the estate and its maker. If there’s an evolution from the 1995 to the 1998 wine it’s seen in the quality of their tannins and balance, moving from the almost uncompromisingly firm extract in the older wine to the impressive restraint yet weight of tannin seen in the 1998.
