Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec 2019

78% Cabernet Sauvignon 22% Malbec. French oak Barrique 66% new, 34% 2-4 year old. Some wines are so elevating on the nose, that there’s a hesitancy to put the glass to one’s lips, in fear that the palate cannot possibly live up to the hedonistic aromatics. The 2019 Tom Cullity is one of those wines. The confident, perfumed beauty of the Malbec is upheld by the fine boned and long limbed frame provided by Cabernet. Wild berry, graphite, gravel, concentrated deep black fruits and a whisper of woodsmoke and potpourri. There’s a distinct savoury note of Australian bush undergrowth and dried, crushed Eucalypt which is kept in check with tones of berry coulis and cassis. On the palate there is a burst of powerfully dense yet elegant fruit, lifted by a fine acid line that flows throughout the length of the lithe and sinewy tannins. Crafted from some of the oldest vines in the region holding court over the surrounding Wilyabrup hillsides, this is a focused expression of Margaret River Cabernet. Wow, what a wine. Delicious and balanced drinking now, or cellar for 20+ years.