CULLEN DIANA MADELINE 2021

2021 vintage marks the 50th year of plantings for cabernet sauvignon at the Cullen Wilyabrup vineyard. Serendipity allows it also to be Diana Madeline’s 100th year, beginning on 11th February 2023. It’s incredible to imagine the times of planting in 1971, with no real knowledge of how things would turn out, just faith and great vision to feed the early pioneers of the region, we are talking and tasting the 50th vintage and the region is going from strength to strength on the national and international stage.

This wine is the culmination of over 50 years of dedication effort and respect for the land. The quest for better quality wine made using sustainable methods.

The grapes for this wine were hand harvested on the biodynamic fruit and flower days across 5 picks from the middle of March to the super Moon Flower day two weeks later (including a Moon opposite Saturn fruit day harvest). It was then aged in 50% new oak for a period of 15 months with barriques and puncheons and biodynamic barrels included. The final blend is 91% Cabernet.

98/100 Ken Gargett, WinePilot.com, February 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"The newly released DM Cabernet is a particularly auspicious one, celebrating what would have been the 100th birthday of Diana Madeline herself. No doubt, she would have been delighted with the wine. In fact, it is very hard to remember when this 'Cabernet would not have been amongst the very best released in this country. This latest release is likely to be seen as one of the finest they have ever made. This is not just a great Margaret River wine, it is a great wine. Deep opaque purple hue. The nose is a whirling dervish of spices, cherries, tobacco leaves, cassis, black fruits, leather and dried herbs. Hints of cloves and blackberries. The structure is immaculate. The wine is focused, with the intensity maintained the full length to a very long finish. Silky tannins. Certainly young now, and although it really is enjoyable, expect this wine to give great pleasure over the next two decades. It is going to get even better. This will surely be one of the top wines of the year, even at this early stage."

98/100 Ray Jordan, WinePilot.com, February 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"This is a triumph for the vineyard in what was a challenging year in Margaret River. Low yields, birds and rain events all conspired to make things tough but a rigorous biodynamic approach in the vineyard and later in the winery has resulted in a magnificent expression of a slightly cooler climate Margaret River cabernet. High end florals on the nose with notes of violet and red berry overpaying the deeper blackcurrant concentration. The oak is well managed and integrated with the tannins firm and chalky providing the structure to support extended ageing. A worthy commemoration of family matriarch Diana Cullen who would have been 100 this year."

97/100 Decanter (2021 Vintage)
"Fragrant, spicy, mineral and elegant, as befits a cooler and fortunately low-yielding vintage, with rainfall during the growing season and harvest. Lovely cedar and graphite detail to the saturating plum and mulberry fruit. A youthfully firm acid line and fine-textured terracotta tannins cut a swathe through (yet are softened by) the fruit, making for a harmonious, persistent palate. 100% biodynamic barriques and puncheons, 50% new, with 11% amphora-fermented."

5 Stars & 97/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review (2021 Vintage)
"Very deep, bright purple-red colour; wonderful fragrance of red and blue fruits, violets and subtle herbal notes, the palate is very full bodied and loaded with tannins, a big wine of awesome concentration and arresting structure, with terrific drive and power. Long, long finish. It’s just a babe and has a big future. This really has some wow factor. Drink 2026-2051."

97/100 James Halliday (2021 Vintage)
"Diana Madeline. The name evokes a lot of emotions, for what the woman stood for then and what the wine stands for now. The 2021 vintage equals 50 years of cabernet sauvignon plantings at Cullen. When released in early 2023, it was on what would have been her 100th birthday. It’s a wine that can come from nowhere else, so strong is its sense of place. Expect to swoon over aromas of roses, violets and mulberries doused in baking spices, a ferruginous quality as much as detailed if persuasive tannins. It’s complex, complete and structured. Gosh, what a wine. What a woman. The perfect combination."

96+/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2021 Vintage)
"This 2021 is a lean, mineral rendition of the Diana Madeline, with bay leaf, rose petals, cassis, bramble and black tea forming layers that settle in the mouth. The tannins are grippy and very fine, causing one to chew slightly as one drinks. This is ethereal, as these wines often are, yet with line and length that belies its pretty curves and textures. The perfect, ideal apogee for this wine’s drinking window is in the future. Get it while you can."

96/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, January 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"Cherry, plum, dark chocolate, dried rose, lead pencil, baking spice. It’s medium-bodied, saline and distinctly ‘mineral’ with a ferrous quality, crushed slate tannin, spice, I’m thinking Davidson plum?, with that hint of tartness, a musky perfume, so much energy, combining light and shade, and a long gently chewy tannic finish. Distinctive wine stamped firmly with a sense of place."