Vasse Felix - Tom Cullity - Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec

The 2018 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is one of the greatest Cabernets to emerge from Margaret River. It was a sensational season: warm and dry, devoid of significant viticultural challenges, profuse in marri blossoms... What more could they ask for? Many producers made their best wines ever in this vintage. The 2018 is floral on the nose, with garden roses (Boscobel, specifically), graphite, pink peppercorns, blackberry, liquorice, star anise, clove, raspberry pip, nori and a hint of red/Panang curry (?). It's sensationally structured, firm and ductile, kind of magical in its way. The great thing about 2018 is that it feels stuck in time. It isn't even starting to evolve, and that's pretty exciting. The forecast that 2018 could be one of Western Australia's greatest vintages felt premature at the time, but as we start to see these wines embedded in verticals across the Margaret River region specifically, it is showing that early assessment to be pretty spot-on. There are exciting times ahead for this wine.