The Vasse Felix Tom Cullity project was impressive from day 1 with aspirations to make one of Margaret River’s greatest and most ageworthy wines from the region’s oldest vines. A recent vertical of a decade of releases does not disappoint.
Tom Cullity 2013
76% cabernet sauvignon, 20% malbec, 4% petit verdot
A deceptive wine, deceptively youthful, earthy, savoury but at the same time extolling vibrant aromatics. It’s a beauty, representing both the tannic force with structure of Margaret River cabernet and a stunning ability to age retaining youthful intent in its 12th year. Aromas of undergrowth, red earth, blackberry, cassis, charcuterie, spices and dark violets. Softly spoken, it retains a strong sense of purpose led by a firm savoury tannin structure and offering an unmistakable regional glimpse into Aussie bush notes, herbs, briar, cassis, black berries and spice. Tannins build bringing length and intensity through the finish. Still has a long way to go. Enjoy the ride.
96pts
Drink: 2025-2040
Tom Cullity 2014
80% cabernet sauvignon, 16% malbec, 4% petit verdot
This lives up to the chief winemaker’s “odd and even” year theory so perfectly. In this decade, Virginia Willcock notes the even years are brighter, perkier. So, too, is the 2014. The scent is just the best, so aromatic, so lifted in red fruits and black and blue berries, violet and the kind of lively spice that brightens a glass of wine. The wine flows effortlessly from there. Flavours are elevated, expansive. Firm in structure and yet quite fine tannins assert their presence without detracting from the lush black berries, spice and oak that lies at its heart. Integration across the board is assured.
95pts
Drink: 2025-2034
Tom Cullity 2015
78% cabernet sauvignon, 20% malbec, 2% petit verdot
A highly focused Tom Cullity. Does this wine ever age? It remains Peter Pan youthful. Crimson hues. Earth, briar, undergrowth aromas with blackberry, cassis, bay leaf, herbs and florals with a touch of black olive and light spices. There is an inbuilt complexity that rises on the palate, clean and brisk and still tight in cabernet tannins, but ever so slowly starting to reveal a core of energised fruit, spices and herbal influence with a light tapenade earthy savouriness and top length. It will keep on keeping on for some time to come.
94pts
Drink: 2025-2035
Tom Cullity 2016
78% cabernet sauvignon, 20% malbec, 2% petit verdot
Opens savoury and autumnal and then it builds and builds and keeps on building. It’s dark, so dark, from the dense red hues to the scent of dark fruits, dark spices, dark chocolate, briar, earth and leaves. Beautifully finely textured on the palate, on point in its varietal definitions and more than willing to be opened and enjoyed in its 9th year. Lively acidity just brings everything immediately to the attention of the drinker, and there’s a lot to explore. This is a most engaging Tom Cullity striking an enviable balance between power and elegance.
96pts
Drink: 2025-2036
Tom Cullity 2017
82% cabernet sauvignon, 17% malbec, 1% petit verdot
From one of the coolest, latest vintages ever at Vasse Felix with a couple of picks of fruit to get to what Willcock calls the “sweet spot.” Boasts one of the highest percentages of cabernet in all of the Tom Cullity releases and, with it, comes a captivating cabernet immersion. Notes of bracken, briar, leaf and roasting herbs join dark spices and dusty cacao on the aroma. Ripe, sweet fruit gathers on the palate bringing an engaging energy. Smooth, round, supple texture and masses of ripe berry fruit flavour with earth, spice and subtle herbals dressed nicely in warm, well-judged oak. Tannins remain bright, so too, acidity. Drinking well now, but can still take more time in bottle.
94pts
Drink: 2025-2040
Tom Cullity 2018
78% cabernet sauvignon, 17.5% malbec, 4.5% petit verdot
The epitome of Margaret River cabernet sauvignon: power and elegance. Combines solid cabernet tannin structure with an essence-like intensity of concentrated fruit, all the while tasting open and inviting. Dense, dark crimson hues. Brings a cast of red and black fruit to the palate in cassis, blackberry, red plum, summer berries with spearmint, leaf, Aussie bush notes, bay leaf, anise and spices. It flows effortlessly, long, against a background of sapid, confident tannins. Could this cabernet blend be sourced from anywhere else but Margaret River? Doubt it. Speaks of the beauty of the local terroir and its synchronicity to cabernet. Built to last.
97pts
Drink: 2025-2043
Tom Cullity 2019
78% cabernet sauvignon, 22% malbec
Vintage was super cool and late (picking finished April 18), and it is also the first vintage not to have some petit verdot included. In many ways, it speaks in a similar voice to the 2017. Both are quiet achievers. Less effusive, less ready for its close up, it remains tight as a drum and still a little reluctant to reveal all, more so, on the palate than the bouquet which is all about some beautifully ripened cabernet features in purple cherry, black fruits, cassis, ripe herbs, liquorice and warm earthy notes. On the palate, the tension tightens, a firm, fine tannin structure takes hold and flavours are still in integration mode. The scene is laid out with a charming savoury nuance coming into view together with still evolving, youthful layers of black and red fruits, florals, herbs, earth and spice. Tannins build good grip heading into the finish. It’s a keeper.
95pts
Drink: 2025-2040
Tom Cullity 2020
81% cabernet sauvignon, 16% malbec, 3% petit verdot
A complete orchestra of scents, flavours, textures and finely tuned nuance. This is the last vintage (for a while, at least) to see a small splash of petit verdot or “seasoning” as chief winemaker, Virginia Willcock, likes to call it. At first, it’s all about leaf, herbals and bramble aromas – a real wildness – followed by dark fruits, high spice, florals, woody spices, vanilla. It’s an engaging introduction, and it gets better as the wine opens up and explores deeper and longer in time to a beat set down by some incredible, fine-textured tannin work that allows the drinker to fully enjoy this little beauty right now. But those tannins will also hold it close for a lot more time in bottle.
96pts
Drink: 2025-2040
Tom Cullity 2021
81% cabernet sauvignon, 19% malbec
Bright purple hues, youthful as. Tom Cullity puts on a masterful display of super fine elegance very early in its life. It’s quite un-Tom like to a degree, especially in its immediate approachability. This is not a complaint, far from it! Aromatics light up the scent in fragrant rose and violet with dark black and red berries, liquorice, a touch of sage and a glorious spiciness. Comes built with an impressive structure, punctuated in fine tannins, but the star is the purity of cabernet on display. A most distinctive Margaret River cabernet with a strong regional thread, supported by a quality blending pal, that comes dressed to impress in a glorious elegance.
96pts
Drink: 2025-2041
Tom Cullity 2022
87% cabernet sauvignon, 13% malbec
Another striking example of purity and elegance. Concentration is always a given for Tom Cullity so, too, structure and longevity but, here, we have an immediacy in youth, a glorious floral interlude and freshness that excites. The winemaker describes the wine as “vivacious,” and I can’t help but agree. Fresh-picked florals light up the aroma in violet, garden herbs, pepper, dark spices, ripe blackberry, plum, chocolate. Offers a solid core of spice and black pepper that lifts the energy of the entire wine. It is super expressive, textured and compact in firm tannins. To drink or not to drink? That is a very good question. Why not both?
96pts
Drink: 2025-2042
