Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (97)

Clarity and nuance, silky tannins, herb-strewn, full of life and character and nuance, a whole other level of Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting this unusual site. Blue fruits dominate over the darker cassis, adding freshness and keeping the rich concentration at arms length until the layers build through the palate. Smoked oak on the finish but it is barely discernable against the depth of fruit and minerality. Love this. Harvest April 13 and 16, 3.96ph. Just under 1,900 bottles produced.

Decanter (97)

An incredible Chardonnay from Margaret River with layers of complexity and nuance. So many aromatic touches on the nose, salty lemon notes alongside apricot, peach and lime zest with buttery almond edges. These follow through on the palate with a satisfying creamy texture. Smooth and structured, weighty but not overpowering and with a vein of freshness and wet stone minerality that gives it such life and energy. Hard not to love this. A total production of 2,288 bottles produced in 2018 by owner-winemaker Will Berliner. Grapes are hand sorted and whole-bunch pressed directly into barrel. An atypically cool spring and summer with unprecedented frost meant low yields and a harvest that was two weeks later than unusual. Despite the challenges this is a powerful and precise wine that is great to drink now and will age.

Vinous (96)

This decadently delicious 2020 Chardonnay immediately impresses with explosive aromas of vanilla cream, florals and just-picked nectarines with fantastic aromatic weight and volume. Packed full of marzipan, nutty oak and apricot flavours with a voluptuous texture, there is a perfectly balanced core of tangy acidity which keeps the energy high. A long, ripe and detailed finish tops what is a stunning package.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

A bright crimson 73/20/7% blend of cabernet, merlot and franc, aged for an average of 17 months in French barriques (60% new). This was Cullen's greatest wine until the arrival of the Vanya Cabernet, and remains one of Australia's greatest cabernet blends, the only real competition coming from other Margaret River blends. The bouquet is perfumed, the palate fluid and graceful, notwithstanding the intensity of its cassis et al fruits which give the wine its awesome length, fine tannins its balance.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

A cabernet-dominated (93%) blend, matured for 14 months in French barriques (67% new). Fluid grace, elegance personified, no compromise. Extraordinary attention to detail. From the Wilyabrup district, the heart of Margaret River cabernet blends.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

81% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 3% malbec. Wild-fermented and matured for 18 months in French oak (40% new). The colour is faultless, as is the wine. It has waves of complexity, like one of Margaret River's surf breaks, changing shape as the luxuriant cassis swells on the mid-palate, then finishes with ripe, textured tannins as the wave goes on to crash on the shore. The overall ripeness is perfection.

James Suckling (99)

This is a superb edition of this revered, cabernet-based blend with such complete, seamless and elegant feel, yet there’s such depth of flavor, too. Aromas of fresh redcurrants, red and violet flowers, subtle spice, fresh earth, paper bark, fresh-picked thyme and sage, red berries and some cedary notes. The palate is stunning and has a brand of elegance with power that is found in only the greatest wines. Pristine mulberries, red plums, blueberries and red cherries sail through layers of fine tannin, into an unwaveringly long and vibrant finish. An exceptionally concentrated and convincing Diana Madeline release, this is one of their finest. A blend of 79% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 6% cabernet franc and 5% malbec. Delicious now, but his will bloom from 2028. Screw cap.

Halliday Wine Companion (98)

87% Cabernet sauvignon, with 7/3/2/1% merlot/cabernet franc/malbec/petit verdot. Matured for 15 months in barrique, 45% new. Cassis and red licorice on the nose, bay and salt bush, too. The palate is salty and fine with layers upon layers of spice and texture. The tannins are like finely textured gills, stacked as delicately as the folds in a mushroom. The length of flavour unfurls and extends across the palate, taking so long to fade that this entire tasting note is possible off one sip. The rest are just for pleasure. Drink it now, or in 40+ years from now… both will be possible.

Wine Advocate (95+)

The 2020 Diana Madeline hails from a vintage that perhaps we underestimate its significance, purely by virtue of the fact that we may be too close to it currently. Similar to the World War years, any wine made in 2020 was done so under trying conditions heretofore not experienced by the global community. Widespread lockdowns, the threat of a then-unknown virus weighing down upon us all, uncertainty rife and mobility greatly restricted, the wines of the 2020 vintage are a triumph in themselves. In Margaret River, the season was warm, dry and early, and it has yielded a tranche of structurally powerful wines, as this is. The tannins here feel firm, and they serve to encase the fruit rather than exist within it, as other Diana Madelines exhibit. It is perhaps a wine that needs more time, and it is certainly a historical vintage to collect—if not for us now, then for our children later. 13.1% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Cullen Wines supplied the following technical details: The 2020 harvest dates included two moon-opposite-Saturn events and two full moons—one being a fruit day perigee and the other a moon-opposite-Saturn flower day—and took place from February 8 until March 10. The blend is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec. Closed tanks, open fermenters, barrels and amphora were all used in the fermentation process, and the period of skin contact lasted from 10 to 99 days, depending on the batch of wine. This wine spent 13 months in 50% new oak in a mixture of barriques and puncheons, with some biodynamic oak featuring. No additions of yeast, acid or malolactic acid were made to this wine.

Halliday Wine Companion (95)

57% malbec, 37% petit verdot, 6% merlot, hand-picked on 11 Feb '17, when a total eclipse occurred, turning the moon red. Wild-fermented, matured for 9 months in French oak (10% new). It's a delectably juicy red berry wine with minimal interference from tannins, but will be no pushover as it ages.

James Suckling (99)

Such impressive red plums and mulberries are delivered in bright, pure style here with dark, violet florals. Then there’s a wealth of savory notes, such as cedar, gun flint and cloves. It is so complex already. The palate delivers a very convincing array of purple-berry and plum flavors that completely coat the mouth. So harmonious, the resolve, depth and purity this wields is so impressive. Long and pure dark-berry flavors abound. Like a great young Cos d’Estournel! Drink or cellar for 15 plus years. Screw cap. 200 dozen made.

Wine Advocate (97)

The 2020 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is the product of a warm, dry, low-yielding year. The wines are tannic and structural on the whole, and this is no exception. In the mouth, the tannins define the fruit characters, and they frame them, providing chew and shape, along with notes of raspberry, nori, iodine, blood, kelp, cassis, bramble and just a hint of forest floor. Here, in the context of Leeuwin Art Series Cabernets, the wine is tannic. But I vividly recall seeing this wine in an international blind tasting of the 2020 Cabernet vintage and observing that in that context, this same wine looked pure as the driven snow. Context, as they say, is everything.

Wine Pilot (99)

In many ways the most Burgundian of any of the Leeuwin releases, this will rank up there with the best to date. There’s a waxy light mealy aroma which picks up nuances of limestone and spice with a trace of grapefruit. But it is the palate that really distinguishes it. There is an austerity with the minerally chalky feel that cuts through the fruit extending to a finish of extraordinary length. Precision and focus harness a wine of great power and poise before dry savoury edges lift the finish.

Ray Jordan (99)

It would not surprise me if this was considered the greatest Leeuwin chardonnay yet. You would get no argument from me... there is elegance and power here. Subtle layered wine. It was a year of great concentration and power. Has pear and lime character that is part of the DNA. The fruit is generous, especially about the mid palate. Has a subtle and not overstated flinty character with a lift of spice. The oak is brilliantly managed and complementary. It's very tight and precise and the whole-bunch technique gives it that stalky, phenolics character. There's a savoury almond meal character on the finish. Incredible length and power here. The minerally character on the finish is quite pronounced. In the top three, certainly, of any Leeuwin chardonnay.

Ray Jordan (99)

It would not surprise me if this was considered the greatest Leeuwin chardonnay yet. You would get no argument from me... there is elegance and power here. Subtle layered wine. It was a year of great concentration and power. Has pear and lime character that is part of the DNA. The fruit is generous, especially about the mid palate. Has a subtle and not overstated flinty character with a lift of spice. The oak is brilliantly managed and complementary. It's very tight and precise and the whole-bunch technique gives it that stalky, phenolics character. There's a savoury almond meal character on the finish. Incredible length and power here. The minerally character on the finish is quite pronounced. In the top three, certainly, of any Leeuwin chardonnay.

The Real Review (98)

Light straw colour with a reserved lemon/grapefruit aroma, fresh and penetrating, the palate brisk and bright with vibrant acidity and intense grapefruit/lemon flavours that persist the full length of the very long palate. Superb vitality and balance. It promises to reward cellaring too. Tremendously concentrated and compact, with extreme drive and massive persistence, it positively vibrates with energy. Very cellarworthy, too.

Vinous (91)

Shiraz is on the move in Margaret River as evidenced by this delightful release from the 2019 Art Series. It offers up sensational aromas of mulberry, blackberry, clove and white pepper with some stalky notes providing a tantalising start. There is plenty of fleshy fruit flavour as well with jube and fruits pastilles with a dusting of toasted cloves. A supple finish only adds to immediate drinkability as does fine length.

Wine Advocate (93)

Has been through a few subtle iterations in recent years and this one reverts to a previous style which is more generous and immediately flavoursome. Has a creamy texture with a light lemon curd and peachy stone fruit all held with deliberate restraint to give it that extra polish and classy dimension.