2015 Cullen Wines Diana Madeline

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 93 points

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  6/8/2023 - Isaac L Likes this wine: 93 Points

  DM Vertical with Vanya Cullen @ 67PM. Wow. Powerful and textured. Long. Cassis pure and prominent, albeit the wine has more black fruit and darker tones than most MR cabernet which tends to be red-fruited. Everything in balance. Outperformed Latour blind, according to Vanya. Second favourite wine of the vertical comprising '01, '11', '13, '14, '15, '16, '18, and '21. 94-95 in 10-15 years?

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  11/19/2022 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Colour is still a youthful crimson and purple, excellent persistence of colour to the meniscus. This speaks of a wine that is powerful and still with a lot of development ahead. Being under screw cap helps.
  
  This wine appears to have provoked some very different opinions. I always think that with a review the place to start is to assess from the point of view of more objective things like length of finish and intensity, whether the grapes are ripe, the textural elements of the wine, whether tannins are ripe, the acid (is it sour, green apple or more neutral, 'fresh') and then to look at varietal and regional 'accuracy'. I also like to look at whether there are any wine making flaws and to check as to whether these are intentional or not. Whether I like or am moved by the wine is the subjective part. I am not sure that all of the reviews here have worked through a process like this.
  
  I can see why some would not like this wine. The tannins have a slight black tea element to them and are quite drying. It is entirely legitimate to find this not to one's liking. On the tannins, what I do note is their fine grained nature and I find them to be ripe and not green. In this sense, I rather like them and they are characteristic of the best Bordeaux and, especially, Tuscan reds.
  
  I can also understand some people finding the wine hard to penetrate, because it is still a very young wine and like many great Cabernets it needs time to speak its truth. It is not a loquacious Shiraz, nor is it a garrulous Pinot Noir or Merlot, or Barossa red.
  
  However, if decanted and given about 6-8 hours, or left open two days in bottle it will start to tell you a wonderful story of all that is great in Cabernet.
  
  The finish is extremely long and the wine has great intensity. The wine absolutely has some of that Margaret River Bay leaf/ Eucalyptus leaf element (regionality), but it is not out of balance. The fruit is true Cassis and red currant, no jam or fatness here (varietal integrity). The tannins are really a thing of beauty in their own right, if you will take time to know them. They are not chunky, or green tinged. There is a splendid elegance to this wine, despite its power, that is a hallmark of all great Cabernet (typicity). The acid is fresh but not sour or out of balance.
  
  If you consider the above it is hard to say that this is anything but exemplary Margaret River Cabernet. It is a wine that would be very happy in the company of the best from Tuscany, Bordeaux, Chile and California.
  
  Whether you like it, that is a matter for you but for me, this is one of the Cullen wines made for long cellaring and I have to say that I really like it. A splendid contrast/antidote to my moment of nostalgie de la boue on Friday night; this is clearly a high-class courtesan who demands something from you beyond your purse. But damn it, Friday night's fat bottomed girl did make my rockin' world go round. This one appeals to the mind.
  
  It is easy to score this as 'Outstanding' based on objective criteria. It will just get better and better over the next 10 years. Subjectively, I love it as well, although I feel that this is more Annette Schwarz than Stormy Daniels and she does leave one a little bruised, as much as cuddled at this time.

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  7/30/2019 - DanielJH Likes this wine: 96 Points

  The difference between this and many other Cabernet blends is the supreme balance that is apparent from the first sip. There’s a beautiful fragrance of alpine herbs, red fruits, cedar and that regional mint-bayleaf thing that is so often there with WA Cabernet blends. The mint is there on the palate too, but is a complement rather than a distraction. Medium bodied, and quite tense with juicy red currants, mulberries, cedar, some fennel seed and an overlay of vanilla bean. Fine and very persistent tannins coat the mouth to every corner and the finish just goes on and on. Thoroughly beautiful wine with an acid profile that keeps it fresh and lively. Drinking well now with a long decant, but has decades ahead of it.

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  5/9/2018 - chatters wrote:

  Gourmet Traveller Wine Western Australian Cabernets (Dank Street, Waterloo, Sydney): muted blackcurrant and berry, spice, cedar, a little mint. Juicy, slightly sharp black fruits backed by tannins that demand attention and prove drying and flour textured upon examination. Hmm. Very young

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  10/22/2017 - Collector1855 wrote: 89 Points

  Tasted during a WA event "a matter of taste" walk about, so no tasting notes, only occasional impressions. I have said it before and will say it again. Two problems with this so called premium wine. Tannins are harsh and drying. Second, little aromatic complexity beyond dark fruit. This sample also feels forced and artificially concentrated

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