4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot and just for a change here’s a double take that’s only available to subscribers :)
Walsh: I didn’t take many notes on this wine, and if I did then I’m not exactly sure where they are right now, but I remember it perfectly well and don’t feel the need to go long on the fruit salad descriptors because this wine is all about structure and length. It’s tight and fine, only medium bodied really, with a bright mulberry and blackcurrant sort of fruit character, a slight but pleasant leafiness that’s both Cabernet and regional and tasteful cedar/vanilla oak in support. Pretty too. The thing that struck me though, was just how long and controlled it was through the mouth. I tasted other wines next to it and they looked distinctly clumsy and abbreviated. Perhaps not the most exciting of wines at present, more subdued and classy, but it’s going to be magic in the long term. Drink 2019-2030+ 95+ points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Mattinson: Ah yes I see what you mean. Though it took me a while to come around to this - biodynamically-grown wines are renowned for their ‘brightness’, but the first day I tried this it seemed dull. Perhaps ’subdued’ is a better word. Day two it tasted better but I still wasn’t entirely convinced. Day three it was at its best, its quality clear. Good sign I know though you’d be doing your dough if you were looking to drink it soon-ish. One of the interesting things about 2007 Margaret River cabernet is that the wines generally aren’t thick or ballsy or robust, but they are beautifully ripe and balanced. This wine sure is. It has a lightness of touch, a natural sense of acidity, and strides long and sure out through its finish. I’m with Walsh - it’s a wine characterised by its structure and length. Good news for its future. 94 points. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Just to fully impose her dominance over Australian fine winemaking, Vanya Cullen doubles her whammy with this astonishing bio-D blend of cabernet sauvignon (84 per cent), merlot (8 per cent); cabernet franc (4 per cent) and petit verdot (4 per cent). It bought to me a vision of a hot gothic! Sultry-musky Mananne, Faithfull sitting with a knife and fork to devour a quivering gelatinous block of arterial blood, blood orange, soot, coffee, ancient oolong tea, and trainline gravel, dusted with gunpowder and the pollen of forests and fields of meadow blooms. It’s an extreme, profoundly beautiful thing. Thirty years in the cellar. Philip White, The Independent Weekly, 19 June 2009
Tasting notes Reviews
This is one of the greatest Diana Madeline’s. The outstanding quality of this wine reflects a combination of the excellent conditions that existed for all red grape varieties during the lead up to the 2007 vintage and the benefits of employing the best biodynamic practices.
The vines at the end of winter in 2006 were in exceptionally good health and thus able to capitalise fully on the stimulus provided by an unusually warm spring. The more rapid than usual growth of the vines in the spring resulted in the grapes of the early varieties being ready for harvesting before the end of January, which led to the earliest start to vintage ever recorded at Cullen Wines. Although spring and early summer temperatures were as much as 2.5°C above average, they never became excessive and the vines received the benefit of two good bursts of rainfall at the peak of their growing season.
The outstanding quality of the fruit that was produced, particularly the red varieties, during the warm vintage in 2007 provides good evidence that the vines on the Cullen Vineyards are able to adapt very successfully to increases in temperature during the lead up to vintage. This adaptability is attributed to the benefits of employing a well established biodynamic approach to viticulture. From the encouraging experience gained in 2007, the Cullens consider that the effects of global warming on their vines are likely to be limited, which is a huge relief.
The 2007 Diana Madeline was made from 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.
The fruit was picked at Baumés ranging from 12.0 to 13.8° and fermentation employed natural yeasts. The wine was matured for 14 months in high quality French oak barriques.
