2012 Cullen Vanya Cabernet Sauvignon

Certified biodynamic with the 97% Cabernet Sauvignon component complemented by 3% Petit Verdot. Ageing took place in new French oak of which 50% was new for a period of 19 months. Totally opaque dark red black colour with a dark red hue. Intense but beautifully refined the nose offers up aromas of blackcurrant and mulberry laced with cedar and tobacco characters followed by hints of cigar box, faint bay leaf and spice. Medium weight the palate is the perfect marriage of richness, elegance and power delivering sublime flavours of blackcurrant, ripe mulberry and dark cherries seamlessly integrated with cedar, tobacco and spice characters. Exquisite finesse with exceptionally fine grained, polished tannins. Very long aftertaste of blackcurrant, ripe mulberry, cedar faint tobacco, cigar box and spice that seems to sail on forever. A new benchmark in Australian Cabernet.
Cellar 10-15 years.
Alc 13.5%

Other Reviews….
Extraordinary wine from the oldest (’71) estate plantings, wild-fermented, matured for 19 months in French oak (47% new). Deeply coloured, highly fragrant, the palate takes you on a mesmerising ride with a mid-palate peak of pure cassis fruit, then a swish of integrated savoury tannins before rising again on the dark fruit line of the finish thanks in part to 3% petit verdot. Drink to 2057.
99 points
James Halliday – The Australian

Not to be made every year, the debut vintage of the 2012 Vanya is a blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon with 3% Petit Verdot. Only 4,500 bottles of this wine were made. It spent 19 months in 50% new oak and possesses a deep garnet-purple color with a savory, yeasty and meaty nose redolent of red and black plums, cassis and cigar box, and a spicy undercurrent of lavender, bay leaf and rust. This multi-layered, taut, intensely flavored wine is beautifully elegant in the mouth, with incredibly ripe flavors and with silky tannins. It should cellar for 20-30 years or more.
97+ points
Lisa Perrotti-Brown – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate