Cullen Wines Diana Madeline 2020

Grown in the ancient soils of Wilyabrup the wines come from the heart of the land rather than the mind of the winemaker. The wines are made with little or no intervention. This means indigenous yeast, no additions of any kind, minimal oak use and fining. Quality is paramount in this process and every step in winemaking incorporates this philosophy. The wines can only be as good as the grapes, the quality and uniqueness of Cullen Wines comes in part from the vineyard with the role of the winemaker is to act as caretaker to the fruit – to understand and to realise the full potential of the vineyard and the fruit which comes into the winery.

The soils at Cullen are old, granite and gravely sandy loam, overlaying lateritic subsoils. The vines are dry farmed, helping to ensure maximum fruit quality, and are both pruned and harvested by hand. Low yields enable the flavours of the grapes to develop fully. Since 1971 when the Cullen Estate was planted, chemical intervention was minimal and the family’s concern for the environment paramount. Cullen is now carbon neutral and certified bio-dynamic. Vanya Cullen was awarded Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year 2020.

The 2020 Diana Madeline vintage was hot and dry. For the old block cabernet sauvignon vines these drought like conditions resulted in the vines producing small berries, and hence the vines were low yielding. This wine spent 13 Months in 50% new oak in a mixture of barriques and puncheons, with some biodynamic oak featuring. This produced a wine of elegance, balance and perfume… effortless. The blend is 92% cabernet sauvignon, 4% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% malbec.

Mulberry, chocolate aromas with a palate of juicy berry fruit, mulberry, plum, cherry, This unctuous fruit is framed by fine grained tannins and Wilyabrup earth, ironstone, and dust which expresses the heat of the vintage and compliments the concentration of the fruit.

The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec
Country - Australia
Region - Margaret River, Western Australia
Vintage - 2020
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13%
Other - Organic, Biodynamic