2015 Cullen Vanya Cabernet Sauvignon

99 Points - Huon Hooke, huonhooke.com.au

“Deep-set earthy, ironstone aromas with undertones of violets, cassis and cedar. A buoyant wine: full-bodied, powerful and has amazing intensity of flavour and persistence. Tannins are massed but supple and balanced, giving great structure but with a marvellous evenness of flow. An astonishing wine.”

99 Points - James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion

“Two-thirds whole berries/one-third crushed into 300l terracotta amphorae for wild fermentation, 10 weeks on skins before pressed to French oak (66% new) for 5 months. This is a truly beautiful and graceful cabernet. Its purity of varietal fruit expression, its perfect fruit/oak/tannin balance and its length are exceptional.”

99 Points - Ken Gargett, Quill and Pad

“For me, this wine sets a new standard for Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. It is truly stunning. A world-class wine that immediately takes a spot on the bucket list for any serious wine lover. Anyone with this wine in the cellar has some wonderful experiences ahead of them. The 2015 Vanya is beautifully fragrant, silky, with spices. Almost like a Cabernet cake. Great balance, finesse, and length. There is a prettiness, backed by steel. Red fruits, tobacco box, florals, notably violets. There are the finest, velvety tannins. Not a hiccup to be found in this wonderfully seamless wine, which maintains its intensity throughout. There is no real evidence of oak to be found, and it offers an almost surreal complexity. The wine reflects the finesse of the 2015 vintage, and for me 99 points (and even that seems churlish). This wine has legitimate claims on the title of most elegant wine ever made in Australia, although good luck getting that past half the wine makers in the country.”

97 Points - Josh Raynolds, Vinous

“Bright ruby-red. Vibrant, finely chiseled red berry, cherry, floral and exotic spice aromas take on mineral and musky earth nuances with air. Lithe, impeccably balanced and focused in the mouth, offering sappy, penetrating red fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that turn sweeter and steadily deepen with air, with no loss of energy. Shows superb clarity, definition and floral-driven thrust on a strikingly long, seamless finish that leaves juicy cherry and red berry notes behind. This graceful wine was fermented in clay amphoras and aged for just five months in French oak barrels, two-thirds of them new.”