Cullen, Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Margaret River

Decanted as some sediment. Cork and ullage in great condition. Unfortunately past its prime as oxidative and stewed fruits dominate the nose, but enjoyable fruit evident on the palate and fully integrated tannins. Came together a bit more with some time in the glass which is a good sign it wasn't completely spent. Notable long finish with mellow red fruit profile and very smooth but had lost some freshness.

1997 vintage

Tasted alongside 1999s Bin 707 and Petaluma. Showed really well - evocative nose, cedar and fruit, lovely balance and super length. Mature and delicious.

1999 vintage

The 1999 Cullen Diana Madeline is a remarkable wine that has aged gracefully and is still drinking beautifully. Prior to tasting, it was decanted for approximately an hour. The wine presents a medium-deep garnet color, indicative of its age. On the nose, it offers a lively bouquet of blackberry and vanilla, with a complexity that draws you in. Tasting, the wine reveals a similar flavor profile, showcasing ripe fruit characteristics, chocolate notes, and a hint of syrupiness. However, this slight …

1999 vintage

Drank this at Wah Lok (Carlton Hotel) during a wine dinner with my wine mates. Theme of the evening: wines from the Year of the Rabbit. Surprising young and youthful for a wine that is more than 20 years old. Holding beautifully throughout the evening: rich ripe fruits with excellent balance and finesse. Blackcurrant, berries, ripe prunes and toffee notes. Wow! A beauty at 24 years of age. Aging gracefully and beautifully.

1999 vintage

{screwcap, 13.5%} Very black in all respects. Mix of currant and black olive. Mild powdery tannins. Medium weight but without a lot of depth. Low/medium acid. A hint of being a bit stretched, but only a hint. Drink soon for best effect , but no rush otherwise.

2018 vintage

In fantastic shape , possibly the peak, fruit was seeet and plump, good structure, balance and length. This shows the rewards of cellaring

1999 vintage

Margaret River Tasting (Bistro Cocotte, Haberfield) : Medium minus intensity aromas initially but opens with agitation to show plentiful ripe, stewed blackcurrant and cassis. Though there are also some leathery tertiary notes and a touch of meatiness it's still quite primary. Juicy (possibly adjusted) acid, menthol and stewed fruits, tannins are burred, silky and grippy but in support rather than dominating. Alcohol is a touch warm. Polished but, for me, overdone.

1992 vintage

{screwcap, 13.5%} Deep ruby garnet, youthful looking. Nose of peppery currants, with a lean, herbal quality. The palate is fairly ripe, with a hint of characteristic Margaret river black olive. Less rich and lavish than you might expect from the nose, being fairly acidic, with medium finely gritty tannins, but the same black and dark green flavours, dry and almost tart. Medium weight, with a just-medium length finish. At a quarter the price of the flagship red, it’s not bad …

2018 vintage

Great wine on NYE 2020 beaten by 1995 but still great despite 21 years in bottle

1999 vintage

Fruit profile was slightly stewed/overripe, which unfortunately detracted. This was unfortunate as there is still the structural elements in place to continue ageing for some time. From a bottle with a flawless cork.

1999 vintage

deep dark inky blackish red, little clarity, maroon hue Nose: blackberry, plum, cigar, chocolate, earth, dust, oak Pal: blackberry, plum, cigar, minerals, chocolate, earth, dust, oak Feel: medium, savory Finish: medium T7

2018 vintage

2018 Cullen Cab-M. Deep red-black. Black olive, leafy green and purple florals and fresh cut oak nose. Clean and crunchy medium bodied. Fresh Black fruit. Black tea. Green pepper. Salty black olives and nori. Minerals, almost metallic, bitter tannin. Fine and with plenty of grip. Excellent length of flavour, but it’s pretty boney, direct and structural right now. Needs time to show some more detail, for tannins to soften and integrate. Very Cullen in style- elegant and picked on the …

2018 vintage

Dense ruby. Blackcurrant, blackcurrant and little else. The quarter merlot and cab franc don’t appear to have added any Bordeaux-style complexity here. Resolved but still youthful, this is monochromatic blackcurrant. Drank with lamb rack, and then mallard the following lunchtime having preserved it in eto — no development / evolution. This bottle was in excellent shape and would have run another decade with ease — I get the sense from previous notes that there is bottle variation here. based on …

1999 vintage

Origin: Western Australia | Style: Red Wine | Sweetness/Fullness: Medium Bodied | Grape: Cabernet Merlot | Vintage: 2018 vintage | Alcohol Level: 13.5% | Drink Dates: Now to 2033 | Closure Type: Screwcap | Price £: 25.00 / Bottle | Producer: Cullen Winery Cullen is one of the original pioneers of Western Australia’s top wine region, Margaret River and the name is synonymous with small-winery excellence. In the 1960s Kevin and Diana Cullen, owners of a sheep and cattle farm …

2018 vintage

Initially I thought this was past it but with air it opened to display mature cab sauv character with a new world accent. Time to drink up but give it some time in glass.

1999 vintage

Farewell to Phil : Toast and char, capsicum and coconut. The palate is one dimensional and lacks a little power. Drinkable but not showing much of interest.

1997 vintage

14%. Nicely evolved, with some secondary character, and a slight herbal / bell pepper note. Soft tannins. Can go a few more years.

1999 vintage

{cork, 14%] Pretty much as for August. Good level in the neck; the cork hadn't leaked obviously, but it slid out very easily. Wine is unquestionably tired, fading; pleasant old leathery aromas but no great complexity of length of finish. Acceptable as a drink; below the expected standard/reputation.

1999 vintage

{cork, 14%} After the last catastrophe, I decided to see if it was a fluke. Sadly, although this was better, there's every sign this is fading fast. Although this had advanced mouldy fruit; compost notes, with ancient hints of red berry, it's still a bit bacterial, even volatile. Medium-bodied weight. There's very little tannin remaining, but mostly the finish is very short. Quite drinkable, but a thorough disappointment for what's supposed to be one of Oz's best cabernets. Bought from …

1999 vintage

NobleRottersSydney - Margaret River (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney) : {cork, 14%} [Graeme] About the last (or second last?) vintage before this wine acquired the Diana Madeline moniker, I was expecting this to be the heavy hitter of the night. Even when double-decanted three hours earlier it smelt dubious, and by dinner it had not improved. No cork taint, and not obviously oxidised, it nonetheless was manky and fungal, with hints of volatility, a bacterial note, astringent and harsh on …

1999 vintage

A beautiful deep fruit nose,blackberries,plum fills the glass. Well balanced and mouth filling flavours. This wine will live for many years. But hard to see it getting better drinking than it is now.

1999 vintage

Beguilling, complex nose. Layers of aromas evolving including dusty chalk, dark fruits, tobacco, cedar then bacon fat. Building, mouth coating. Perfectly balanced, terrific length. (95 Superb wine)

1999 vintage

Stewed green vegetables on the nose, tart and angular on the palate. Flawed, tired or both. My faulty bad run with Cullen's top wine continues.

1997 vintage

Drank last night with a steak. The wine was excellent. I will drink the rest of my bottles of this wine in the next 18 months. Really fresh fruit and soft tannins. A beautiful flavoursome wine.

1999 vintage

This bottle might have been a touch past it's prime with the acid too harsh and the fruit having dropped out of the palate leaving slightly green, harsh tannins. Might have been better a few years ago. Hard work. Shame.

1999 vintage

Still looks youthful. Dense, deep, black fruits lead to a mouth filling, dense palate. The balance is there. So too the attractive Cab/merlot flavours. It's still fairly primary! Plenty left in the tank it seems.

1999 vintage

Very dark in color. Black fruits on the nose, black currants on the palate with hints of spice. Still has much tension. Utterly great wines.

1999 vintage

Well this seems to have fallen off a cliff *surprised* Two bottles within a month of each other, both showing plenty of over-mature aromas of cocoa/mushroom. the palate also seems to be fading, and whilst there is still fruit-sweetness, it's not developed significant tertiary flavour and comes across a bit confected. On tonight's bottle there is also a faint metallic taste, but with no stink that would imply Brett. The previous bottle left overnight to see if it recovered was …

1999 vintage

Drinking beautifully! Still fresh fruit with bright cassis, embedded in secondary flavours giving it body and depth. Medium bodied but powerful and persistent.

1999 vintage

Not corked. just way past it. No fruit at all

1997 vintage

Aussie Night with the GrapeMates (Rocket Restaurant in Chatswood, Sydney) : Not corked, but maybe cooked or just plain tired, but it was distinctly raisiny and otherwise off.

1997 vintage

Dinner with JonnyG (Sydney, Australia) : Flawed.

1997 vintage

Glorious. Consistent with other bottles I have had from this case over the last year or so. It really is a first class wine. I’d fully agree with other comments on the wine below – it does need time in a decanter (I’d say 5 or 6 hours minimum) and it is not at all ‘shouty’ – it’s integrated, subtle, confident. A fine range of classic Bordeaux flavours (as described in my other notes on this wine) and a very …

1999 vintage

Chicago Rotating Dinner Series - August 2013 (the Kangaroo Dinner) (Frontier - Chicago, IL) : Wasn't corked, but just off.

1997 vintage

Rotating Dinner Series- Kangaroo Dinner (Frontier, Chicago IL) : Something was just off with it. It didn't smell or feel right, so I can't rate it.

1997 vintage

A private dinner (The Seafood Restaurant, Padstow, UK) : Oxidised. Still something there on the palate, but the nose was completely shot.

1997 vintage

Really well-balanced, yet with a backdrop of structure not unlike a well aged Cahors (and that's not belittling it). Maybe there's nothing that shouts out, but that can be a good thing...

1999 vintage

- Garnet color - Excellent. Drink now. It will not get better and is now brick colour.

1997 vintage

NobleRottersSydney - Flagship wines (Alio's, Surry Hills) : [14%, cork] {guest - David} Fading garnet colour. A shocker of a nose; absolutely rank with VA. Thoroughly bacterial. In the interests of science I ventured a taste: sharp, nasty, astringent, volatile. Diabolical. The last bottle of a stash; apparently the others were OK. This one is definitely not.

1997 vintage

A classic middle-ager. Subtle herbs and pepper in the nose with good depth. Palate is twitchy with some acid and stringy herbs. Not really convinced but some points for the age.

1997 vintage

Still young Elegant

1997 vintage

Better than the last couple of bottles. Smooth, supple with good concentration and quite bright fruit and juicy fruit. Hints of Bordeaux but lacking a bit of the same tannin structure. The fruit is framed with notes of graphite, wet stones and lead pencil. At its peak now but feel it is likely to tip over soon. My last bottle so will probably never know.

1997 vintage

Still deep/dark colour, though there is perhaps a hint of age at the rim. Quite restrained on the nose, but with blackcurrant, cinder toffee and a touch of smoke/fuminess, it's got reasonable complexity. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with decent balance and a softness balanced against somewhat persistent acidity. The fruit is plummy with a little liquorice and black fruits. Not a particularly shouty wine, but it does come across as a nicely balanced warmer climate wine.

1999 vintage

Lovely deep garnet colour still with no signs of age. Needs time in a decanter. Initially seemed closed and astringent, but after about an hour or more the wine really opened up. Plush flavours of ripe black fruits mixed with cedar and spice. It transformed into a wine with weight, but finesse. A long lingering finish with nicely rounded tannins completes the picture.

1999 vintage

This really is a first class wine. Stunning, wonderful. I’ve had a few bottles of it recently and each has been a joy. It’s a big, bold wine, confident but not arrogant. Plenty of bouquet and floor upon floor of depth. It’s got everything you’d ask for in a good (classed) Bordeaux – pencil, cedar, all that – but with its own Australian viewpoint. It just makes me smile – and catch my breath – to drink it. Great, great …

1999 vintage

Splendid. Still got many years left in it, though it’s drinking well now. Big confident purple hue, just a little rim – some quite big fruit in there – more than in a Bordeaux, say – and a good bit of tannin that is integrated rather nicely into the overall structure. Lasts impressively long in the mouth. I paid 310UK pounds for a dozen of these at auction; that’s about 26 pounds a bottle – a great bargain considering the …

1999 vintage

This was showing quite tired and fading. Opened up tasting a bit oxidized and although this largely subsided it never went away. Oak was also a little pokey and distracted from the wine's balance and structure. One bottle to go and will drink soon I think.

1997 vintage

A Medium to full red in colour, the nose shows depth and concentration of olive and blackcurrant fruit. The wine has a firm and unwavering core of dense blackcurrant fruit and a minty green edge. The tannins are tight and provide wonderful structure, with all elements leading a long dark fruit finish. Review Link - www.winereviewer.com.au (drink from 2014-2020)

2008 vintage

Not as smooth as we usually prefer but I think will improve when cellaring for longer. Opens up with decanting. Crisp w grassy aftertaste.

2008 vintage

very nice

2007 vintage

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Cullen, Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Margaret River

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