Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2024

It was a hot, dry and early vintage. The earliest on record. But the impact on the wine is immediate and profound. A wine of tremendous power and concentration is evident from the initial engagement on the nose through to a deep and almost endless palate, as it drives forward with tremendous urgency. Notes of brioche and grain-like cereal with a slightly honeycomb factor, with other notes of minerals and slight savoriness. The palate is deeply concentrated with layers of flavour emerging. Captures much of the Kevin John DNA.

Always one of our greatest Chardonnays, not just a great Margaret River Chardonnay. Full biodynamics as always, Gin Gin clone from plantings made between 1976 and 1988, largely new oak, we are seeing this wine released in the new lightweight bottles. Environmentally positive, though it does seem to rob the wine of some of its gravitas. Fortunately, it is what is in the bottle that counts. A straw/lemon hue, this is a very youthful Chardonnay, but it is elegance personified, with energy and focus and the signs of very early complexity. There is a beautifully creamy texture here with fine, citrussy acidity. The nose offers notes of peaches, florals, ginger, hints of nectarine, bergamot and lemon curd. This is poised and taut, a wine of precision. Long and lingering, there are notes of oatmeal on the palate. Leave it for a couple of years and it will be very special. Then enjoy for a further twelve to fifteen years.’

Vintage after vintage, this is an Australian benchmark chardonnay that commemorates Margaret River pioneer Kevin John Cullen. His daughter Vanya – a finalist for Vigneron of the Year, and her team has crafted another wine that celebrates clarity and purity of the fruit and delivers a delightfully seamless drinking experience. From a hot, dry vintage there is plenty of concentration and length but also elegance. A hint of flint, citrus and melon nuances, astutely judged oak. Just delightful and worth 97 points.