Cullen Wines Mangan Vineyard ‘Red Moon’ 2018
- 90
- $30
- Drink by: 2021 - 2026
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A blend of 61% Malbec and 39% Petit Verdot, harvested between the 11th and 25th of March, the wine spent five months in French oak, 57% new. Hand harvested, naturally fermented and basket pressed into French oak.
For those of us who were not aware of exactly what a Red Moon is, which includes me, it happens during a total lunar eclipse. Light filtering through the atmosphere “dapples the moon in red light” which happened during the 2017 harvest, and again during the 2018 vintage, on January 31st.
Still very young with bright berry notes, mocha and black cherries plus black fruits throughout while the palate is all softness and plushness. Will drink well now but has a good three to six years ahead of it thanks to its fine tannins. A mid-length style but one gets the feeling that in 12-24 months it might appear much longer – good wine.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
