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Cullen Wines Kevin John Chardonnay
The Kevin John Chardonnay is Cullens flagship white from their biodynamic vineyards. A refined and elegant style brimming with white peach and citrus, showing bakery nutty complexity and deft oak integration. The wine is named in honour of Vanya Cullens father, the late Kevin John Cullen. Grapes are harvested on a flower or fruit day and whole-bunch pressed to obtain the highest quality juice. It is then barrel fermented with native yeasts in French oak barriques and matured for approximately 7 months in one- third new and two-thirds seasoned oak barrels.
Cullen Amber Sauvignon Blanc
Pale Amber colour. Very complex aromas already with orange bitters, almonds and a hint of honeysuckle. This wine has a textural and concentrated palate with great length and persistence. Delightful notes of orange, toffee and gentle saltiness on the finish. It is a tannic wine. This new release of our Amber wine is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc selected from our certified Biodynamic vineyard. The wine was left on the skins and fermented partially before being pressed off. The skin maceration went from 9 days to 44 days depending on the parcel. The fruit was processed in different vessels: open fermenters, closed tanks as well as amphorae. This explains some of the complexity and the many layers of this wine. We look at it being a natural step in creative as well as artisanal winemaking. On the advice of eminent agronomist Dr. John Gladstones, Dr. Kevin and Diana Cullen planted a trial acre of vines at Wilyabrup, Margaret River in 1966. Commencing in 1971, 18 acres of vines were planted on their sheep and cattle farm, including their first Cabernet Sauvignon vines. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Semillon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc were planted between 1976 and 1978.
Cullen Wines Late Harvest Chenin Blanc
Cullen is a biodynamically farmed, carbon neutral, naturally powered estate in the heart of Margaret River. Vanya Cullen is one of Australia’s most celebrated winemakers, and was an early pioneer of farming grapes and producing wines in accordance with the biodynamic calendar. She is also the 2020 James Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year. Chenin Blanc was planted on the Cullen Vineyard Estate in 1976. This dessert wine is made from hand picked cane cut grapes with the fruit quality being exceptional, reflecting an excellent growing season. Pure, refreshing with a cleansing finish.
Cullen Wines Diana Madeline
Certified biodynamic and organic. Magnificent pitch black colour with a very deep bright dark red black hue. On the nose a lovely mix of red to black currant and mulberry scents morph into violet, vanillin cedar, dried herb, tobacco, black olive and spicy bay leaf notes. Medium bodied, elegant and superbly structured, the palate features a tightly knit matrix of red to black currant, mulberry and black olive flavours. Bright youthful acidity and an assertive grainy tannin structure provide an iron girder like core. Notions of tobacco, dried herbs, vanillin cedar and spicy bay leaf infusions also chime in. Restrained and understated in its power at present it concludes long and rich yet compact. Cellar 10-20 years. Alc. 13%
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint Aubin 1er Cru Hommage a Marguerite
The Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint Aubin 1er Cru Hommage a Marguerite is a sensational wine that's already starting to show its brilliance. Made in honour of the winemaker's maternal grandmother, Marguerite, it comes from three different premier cru plots within Saint Aubin. As soon as you pop the cork, you notice the intensity of aromas, which span citrus, stone fruit, vanilla and some spiciness. Judicious use of oak gives the wine structure and added complexity without being overwrought and too"big" and buttery. There is a real elegance to the wine as everything is in great balance, and while it's already coming out of its shell, it will definitely benefit from some cellar time.
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint Aubin Blanc
While not as famous as its neighbour Montrachet, Saint Aubin is capable of producing some excellent wines, as evidenced by the Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint Aubin Blanc. Sourced from vines with a range of ages, the wine bursts from the glass with floral and stone fruit intensity, with some citrus notes underneath. The acid gives the wine much vitality on the palate, with some buttery flavours and minerality adding some depth. All in all, this is a fine Chardonnay which hasn't even begun to show its full potential, so leave it for a few more years and then enjoy it with a huge range of dishes.
Sailor Seeks Horse Dijon Clone Pinot Noir
This tiny vineyard is one of Australia’s most southerly located in the Huon valley in southern Tasmania. So to the name, where does that come from? There was a handwritten sign on the wall at the Red Velvet Lounge in Cygnet, our local coffee and cake respite from the Tasmanian weather. It said, “Sailor Seeks Horse” and went on to explain that the author had sailed solo around the world and ridden across the US from coast to coast and back again…on a mule. He’d then decided he wanted to travel around Tasmania by horse but didn’t have one. So, was there anyone who would lend him one? If they didn’t have a horse then a pony would do. It was an idea that resonated with us. Here we were, trying to do something a little bit crazy, without much money and requiring a little bit of help to get to where we wanted to be. Paul and Gilli Lipscombe own the vineyard and make the wines and both have considerable vineyard and winemaking experience behind them including winning the Jimmy Watson trophy for Home Hill where they have been the winemakers in recent years. From working together in the Languedoc to New Zealand, Oregon and Margaret River they spent a lot of time researching and considering the best possible vineyard site with the aim to produce Australia’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay finally settling on this ideal north facing vineyard which is sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds. Best described as a warm site within a cool climate, the soil is free-draining quartz inflected mudstone soil over clay. The vineyard is planted to a large variety of Dijon clones as well as numerous other clones planted by the previous owners and all vineyard work is done as organically as possible. In 2019 a new planting including some Trousseau has been made on the steep north-west facing slope beside the main vineyard block. Even though the 2022 season fell into another La Nina event, there was good rainfall early on and then, as seems normal these days, the tap was turned off in the new year. A fairly pleasant, dry, if not particularly sunny summer with a return to more typical yields compared to 20/21/23. After the previous two years the were able to use more fermenters in the winery with the fruit tasting great and the end of the season finishing off ripening nicely. As the wines developed in barrel some blends were tasted and discovered a combination of the three low-yielding Dijon clones (115, 114 and 777) resulted in a higher-toned, more spice-driven wine with a slightly denser palate weight than the normal Pinot. So they decided to bottle it separately.
PIERRE-YVES COLIN-MOREY BOURGOGNE ROSE DE PINOT
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint Aubin 1er Cru Les Champlots Blanc
Product Information: From a south-west facing 0.65 ha vineyard planted in 1994 located just above La Chateniere. The wine has a deep lemon-yellow hue. Aromatically there's ripe green apple and pear with a hint of white flowers. On the palate it's energetic and bright, yet there is enough substance to give the wine a pleasant lingering impression. PCYM's The white wines are whole bunch pressed, fermented with natural yeasts, aged on lees for up to 18 months in mostly in 350 litre barrels with no lees stirring and no filtration. Burghound describes 2021 as "the kind of vintage that they absolutely love. Otherwise, expressed, it’s a burg geek’s vintage par excellence. The best wines are superbly fresh and transparent as the underlying terroir is wonderfully clear; indeed it’s at the core of each wine.... Outstanding transparency though is not all there is as the wines are strikingly refreshing and tension filled." Maker: Established as one of the young rising stars of Burgundy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey in 2005 left his family Domaine, Marc Colin, where he gained a solid reputation for his outstanding white wines. Pierre-Yves took control of a share of the family vineyards (Domaine Marc Colin) from 2006 vintage. His first vintages have been made from vineyards and growers that he works closely with buying the wine as must and aging the wines in barrels which he has supplied. If the resulting wines meet his standards the barrels of wine purchased are then matured in his own cold cellar below his house in Chassagne Montrachet. The Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey estate was born in 2001 from the association of Pierre-Yves Colin (son of Marc) and Caroline Morey (daughter of Jean-Marc). Today they operate 13 hectares in the villages of Saint-Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay, Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Their production consists of 92% Chardonnay, 5% Pinot Noir and 3% of Aligoté grape variety. Working about 2 hectares from the family heritage, the other plots have come from different acquisitions over the last fifteen years, as well as a few plots in Fermages. Philosophy: The Chassagne vineyard dates back to the years 280 AD. Historically, the vineyards of Chassagne were mainly planted with Pinot Noir; the Grands Crus and some other plots were white (Chardonnay grape). In 1935, the INAO was created and set itself the task of defining appellations in order to ensure their quality and enhance them. It was also at this time that the Grands Crus of the Montrachet hill were delimited. The vineyard is located between 220 and 340 meters altitude on clay-limestone soils. Most of the hillside vines are based on Jurassic lands (-201 million to -145 million years old). Descending towards the plain, the soils are more recent, dating from the Quaternary (2 million years ago) and come from the erosion of the upper layers. Since the 1990s, the village has seen its proportion of vines planted with Pinot noir decrease in favour of vines planted with Chardonnay. Today, the village is world famous and renowned for its white wines, particularly thanks to the Grands Crus of Montrachet. Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey white wines are whole bunch pressed and fermented with native yeast. Ageing up to 16 months for Bourgognes, St Aubins and more than 18 months for top end white wines with no lees stirring in a very cool cellar. The red wines get partial whole-bunch ferments (about 30%) with very gentle pumping over and gentle vinification designed to maximise freshness and finesse. Long untreated corks for most wines and bottles sealed with wax. The resulting wines are built to age classically up to 10 years or more. Nose - Crush Rock, Flint, Ethereal A much more open and airy bouquet with crushed rock and struck flint unfurling in the glass. Palate - Polished, Sleek, Vibrant The mouthfeel of the vibrant and delicious medium-bodied flavours is sleek, even polished, while delivering excellent length on the rich, dry and balanced finale. Finish - Satin-like, Saline, Impactful Satiny and incisive, it's impressively complete, with a penetrating, saline finish