Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec 2021

Medium deep crimson. Classical blackcurrant, redcurrant pastille, dark chocolate aromas with cedar, roasted chestnut notes and hints of herb garden. Beautifully concentrated and inky deep claret style with ample cassis, mulberry, redcurrant fruits, fine grainy tannins and superbly balanced roasted chestnut, vanilla, cedar wood notes. Finishes firm and tight with chinotto, hint leafy nuances. Refined and elegant with superb definition and flow. A top-notch Magaret River Cabernet with a great cellaring future. Keep for the medium to long term. 81% cabernet sauvignon, 19% malbec. 62% new and 32% seasoned (2-4 yrs) French oak Barriques. 14% alc (98) ANDREW CAILLARD MW

Today, I am tasting this 2021 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec for the first time, as it will be released in several months from now. The growing season in 2021 in Margaret River was challenging. In relation to Cabernet Sauvignon and later-ripening reds, it was wet at times, humid at times, and disease pressure was persistent. Diligent viticulture was the winner. This is certainly lighter and finer than many of the other wines in the lineup-2017 being the exception-but the tannins feel seamless and powdery, perfectly dovetailed into the fruit. This is a beautiful wine and triumphant in the year that was. It is super, one of the finest 2021 Cabernets to be released from Margaret River in this year. 97+ ERIN LARKIN, the wine advocate

This vintage was a challenge, yet Tom's old vines have stood tall and delivered the fruit to make another exceptional statement of varietal combination and region. The combination is 81% cabernet and 19% malbec with no petit verdot. All wild yeast and whole berry with 100% French oak for 161/2 months, of which 68% was new and 32% 2-4 years old. The aroma is somewhat more muted than some previous vintages, but that is to be expected. It shows more of the iodine and seaweed nori character and less of the primary fruit notes. The palate is elegant and controlled, with a leafy medium body and a fine thread of chalky tannins. Has the lowest level of oak overall but one of the highest new oak contributions, which was necessary to fully express the fruit. Maintains the obvious DNA evident through the wine that now go back nine vintages. Shows a high natural acidity with a distinctive chalky, minerally oyster shell character providing definition. A wine that truly reflects the vintage but is unmistakably Tom. 97 RAY JORDAN

Deep red-purple colour with intense aromas of mint, cedar, mulberry and blackcurrant, the palate intense and polished, finely textured and long, with a pleasant degree of firmness in the grip, and a hint of tomato bush, possibly coming from the malbec component. It begs to be cellared for a few years, and undoubtedly will live long. Big potential. (81% cabernet sauvignon, 19% malbec). 96 HUON HOOKE, the real review