Cullen
About Cullen
It is hard to dispute that Vanya Cullen is currently one of the greatest winemakers in Australia. Named “Best Winemaker of the Year” 2020 by James Halliday's Wine Companion, in addition to “Winemaker of the Year” at the 2019 Australian Women in Wine Awards, Vanya is very much at the helm of her appellation, steering Margaret River on a very successful course.
Further accolades have come by way of Cullen being awarded “Best Winery of the Year” by James Halliday to go alongside Vanya Cullen’s individual award. Naturally drawing even more attention from the world’s fine wine collectors as a result, we are delighted to present a handful of cases of the newly released and impossibly rare 2019 “Kevin John” Chardonnay.

Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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|
Western Australia | 1 | 98 (HWC) |
Inc. VAT
£116.65 |
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Halliday Wine Companion (98)A cabernet-dominated (93%) blend, matured for 14 months in French barriques (67% new). Fluid grace, elegance personified, no compromise. Extraordinary attention to detail. From the Wilyabrup district, the heart of Margaret River cabernet blends. |
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|
Western Australia | 2 | 98 (HWC) |
Inc. VAT
£736.84 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (98)81% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 3% malbec. Wild-fermented and matured for 18 months in French oak (40% new). The colour is faultless, as is the wine. It has waves of complexity, like one of Margaret River's surf breaks, changing shape as the luxuriant cassis swells on the mid-palate, then finishes with ripe, textured tannins as the wave goes on to crash on the shore. The overall ripeness is perfection. |
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|
Western Australia | 2 | 99 (JS) |
Inc. VAT
£558.04 |
|||||
James Suckling (99)This is a superb edition of this revered, cabernet-based blend with such complete, seamless and elegant feel, yet there’s such depth of flavor, too. Aromas of fresh redcurrants, red and violet flowers, subtle spice, fresh earth, paper bark, fresh-picked thyme and sage, red berries and some cedary notes. The palate is stunning and has a brand of elegance with power that is found in only the greatest wines. Pristine mulberries, red plums, blueberries and red cherries sail through layers of fine tannin, into an unwaveringly long and vibrant finish. An exceptionally concentrated and convincing Diana Madeline release, this is one of their finest. A blend of 79% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 6% cabernet franc and 5% malbec. Delicious now, but his will bloom from 2028. Screw cap. |
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|
Western Australia | 1 | 98 (HWC) |
Inc. VAT
£518.44 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (98)87% Cabernet sauvignon, with 7/3/2/1% merlot/cabernet franc/malbec/petit verdot. Matured for 15 months in barrique, 45% new. Cassis and red licorice on the nose, bay and salt bush, too. The palate is salty and fine with layers upon layers of spice and texture. The tannins are like finely textured gills, stacked as delicately as the folds in a mushroom. The length of flavour unfurls and extends across the palate, taking so long to fade that this entire tasting note is possible off one sip. The rest are just for pleasure. Drink it now, or in 40+ years from now… both will be possible. |
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|
Western Australia | 10 | 96 (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£609.89 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)The 2020 Diana Madeline is both pure and muscular in the glass, with layers of cassis and dark chocolate, bramble and clove, aniseed and fennel. Pastrami nuances create dimension on the palate, as the ductile tannins provide chew and shape the finish. It matured for 13 months in French oak, a mixture of puncheons and barriques. The fruit spent between 10 and 99 days on skins (average 27) and comprises a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec. As always with this Diana Madeline wine, there is no additions of yeast, acid or malolactic acid in its production. 13.1% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. |
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|
Western Australia | 5 | 95+ (WA) |
Inc. VAT
£1,514.98 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (95+)The 2022 vintage was warm and low yielding—very low yielding in the context of Chardonnay. The fruit for this vintage was picked over eight different parcels, from the third to the 21st of February. The fruit was handled in a combination of 50% new French oak, amphora and concrete egg. The 2022 Kevin John Chardonnay leads with chamomile tea, saffron, yellow peach, smoked almonds, jasmine, sandalwood and white-flesh stone fruit. It's a subdued, quiet wine at this stage, quite different from how I remember tasting it on release. As a three-year-old wine (i.e., three years from harvest), this falls before my recommended drinking window for Margaret River Chardonnay, which I believe shows best five years from harvest, as a general rule of thumb. Leave this for a while before drinking it; I believe it will open and evolve positively. 13.9% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. |
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|
Western Australia | 3 | - |
Inc. VAT
£228.29 |
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|
Western Australia | 1 | 95 (HWC) |
Inc. VAT
£198.04 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (95)57% malbec, 37% petit verdot, 6% merlot, hand-picked on 11 Feb '17, when a total eclipse occurred, turning the moon red. Wild-fermented, matured for 9 months in French oak (10% new). It's a delectably juicy red berry wine with minimal interference from tannins, but will be no pushover as it ages. |
Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Western Australia | 1 | 98 (HWC) |
In Bond
£94.00 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (98)A cabernet-dominated (93%) blend, matured for 14 months in French barriques (67% new). Fluid grace, elegance personified, no compromise. Extraordinary attention to detail. From the Wilyabrup district, the heart of Margaret River cabernet blends. |
|||||||||
|
Western Australia | 2 | 98 (HWC) |
In Bond
£598.00 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (98)81% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 3% malbec. Wild-fermented and matured for 18 months in French oak (40% new). The colour is faultless, as is the wine. It has waves of complexity, like one of Margaret River's surf breaks, changing shape as the luxuriant cassis swells on the mid-palate, then finishes with ripe, textured tannins as the wave goes on to crash on the shore. The overall ripeness is perfection. |
|||||||||
|
Western Australia | 2 | 99 (JS) |
In Bond
£449.00 |
|||||
James Suckling (99)This is a superb edition of this revered, cabernet-based blend with such complete, seamless and elegant feel, yet there’s such depth of flavor, too. Aromas of fresh redcurrants, red and violet flowers, subtle spice, fresh earth, paper bark, fresh-picked thyme and sage, red berries and some cedary notes. The palate is stunning and has a brand of elegance with power that is found in only the greatest wines. Pristine mulberries, red plums, blueberries and red cherries sail through layers of fine tannin, into an unwaveringly long and vibrant finish. An exceptionally concentrated and convincing Diana Madeline release, this is one of their finest. A blend of 79% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 6% cabernet franc and 5% malbec. Delicious now, but his will bloom from 2028. Screw cap. |
|||||||||
|
Western Australia | 1 | 98 (HWC) |
In Bond
£416.00 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (98)87% Cabernet sauvignon, with 7/3/2/1% merlot/cabernet franc/malbec/petit verdot. Matured for 15 months in barrique, 45% new. Cassis and red licorice on the nose, bay and salt bush, too. The palate is salty and fine with layers upon layers of spice and texture. The tannins are like finely textured gills, stacked as delicately as the folds in a mushroom. The length of flavour unfurls and extends across the palate, taking so long to fade that this entire tasting note is possible off one sip. The rest are just for pleasure. Drink it now, or in 40+ years from now… both will be possible. |
|||||||||
|
Western Australia | 10 | 96 (WA) |
In Bond
£489.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (96)The 2020 Diana Madeline is both pure and muscular in the glass, with layers of cassis and dark chocolate, bramble and clove, aniseed and fennel. Pastrami nuances create dimension on the palate, as the ductile tannins provide chew and shape the finish. It matured for 13 months in French oak, a mixture of puncheons and barriques. The fruit spent between 10 and 99 days on skins (average 27) and comprises a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec. As always with this Diana Madeline wine, there is no additions of yeast, acid or malolactic acid in its production. 13.1% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. |
|||||||||
|
Western Australia | 5 | 95+ (WA) |
In Bond
£1,224.00 |
|||||
Wine Advocate (95+)The 2022 vintage was warm and low yielding—very low yielding in the context of Chardonnay. The fruit for this vintage was picked over eight different parcels, from the third to the 21st of February. The fruit was handled in a combination of 50% new French oak, amphora and concrete egg. The 2022 Kevin John Chardonnay leads with chamomile tea, saffron, yellow peach, smoked almonds, jasmine, sandalwood and white-flesh stone fruit. It's a subdued, quiet wine at this stage, quite different from how I remember tasting it on release. As a three-year-old wine (i.e., three years from harvest), this falls before my recommended drinking window for Margaret River Chardonnay, which I believe shows best five years from harvest, as a general rule of thumb. Leave this for a while before drinking it; I believe it will open and evolve positively. 13.9% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. |
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|
Western Australia | 3 | - |
In Bond
£171.00 |
|||||
|
Western Australia | 1 | 95 (HWC) |
In Bond
£149.00 |
|||||
Halliday Wine Companion (95)57% malbec, 37% petit verdot, 6% merlot, hand-picked on 11 Feb '17, when a total eclipse occurred, turning the moon red. Wild-fermented, matured for 9 months in French oak (10% new). It's a delectably juicy red berry wine with minimal interference from tannins, but will be no pushover as it ages. |