This vertical 6-pack includes one bottle of each of the following vintages:
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018.
With the 2013 vintage Vasse Felix renamed its flagship Cabernet blend. The wine that was Heytesbury is now Tom Cullity, named for the Margaret River pioneer who founded Vasse Felix in 1967. Langton’s Classified under its previous name, Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec is assured a place among Australia’s finest red wines.
The wine is typically 75% cabernet sauvignon, 20% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot sourced from the original Vasse Felix vineyard planted by Dr Tom Cullity. Fruit parcels are picked in small blocks and fermented with wild yeasts; 52% static fermented and macerated on skins for 20 days or more; 48% open fermented and macerated for 10-15 days on skins. The wine then typically spends 18 months in French oak (about 60% new, 40% second to fifth use) and is fined with egg whites and racked before bottling with minimal filtration.
That this is an elegant wine is the first thing to note here. The nose has hints of gravel and leafy nuances — a textbook regional expression. It's really seductive, and there's a fusion of bright and vibrant redcurrants, boysenberries and red cherries together with cassis and blue plums as well as mulberries. Some fresh, violet-like florals and freshly cut herbs also come into play along with pomegranate and deliciously fresh and cedary oak that's well played in behind vineyard-focused characters. The richer Malbec fruits are clear here, and at 20% of the blend, it has a role to play, both in terms of the upfront plushness and back palate depth. The old vines are also working some magic within the layers of structure and length here. The palate's immaculate and supple, the tannins are fluid, long and polished, and there's detail here as well as depth, before things culminate in an incredibly fresh finish. Tannins are superbly elegant and truly refined. This is a wine of finesse and fine detail. Beautifully grown, perfectly captured and astutely crafted. This is everything a great wine should be and a new step for Vasse Felix, Margaret River and for Australian Cabernet. Drink 2020-2030+
99 points, jamessuckling.com
Over 40-odd years I have tasted some extraordinary Margaret River Cabernet and Cabernet blends from all the great wineries but none has been better than the 2014 Tom Cullity... Wow, this takes Margaret River to another level. There is a purity of fruit and a vibrancy evident here. Power and elegance unlike anything seen before in the region. Oak and fruit with grainy tannins in perfect harmony creating an almost satiny mouth feel. Perfumed with notes of cedar and red berry and violet. A raw edge with graphite and seaweed complexity. The chalky tannins define the palate, which is focused and sustained. Best drinking: Now until 2040.
99 points, West Australian.
This wine is a powerhouse. Has elements of the 2013 with the graceful lines of the 2015 vintage. This was a low-yielding vintage and fruit was all wild fermented. Has a long, savoury structure, although the palate remains supple. Defined and poised in a classic cabernet profile.
98 points
"The best Cullity yet released, confirmed in my own mind at a vertical tasting of the previous vintages. Lifted scents of cedar and subtle bay leaf with crushed rose petal nuances. The palate is deep and powerful with controlled structure of chalky, slightly powdery fine tannins and fine-grained oak. There is a minerally almost sea spray lime character cutting through the dark fruits and chocolate richness. Compelling and just magnificent."
99 points, West Australian
Deep red/purple colour with a very fresh, nuanced, aromatic bouquet loaded with blue and red fruits, cedar and high-toned flowers, violets to the fore. A totally gorgeous bouquet, very fresh and primary but also complex and detailed. Very fine tannins; extremely long carry. A supremely elegant, sublime wine that finishes right out with impressive extension. Clearly, the best Tom Cullity to date. (17% malbec; 1% petit verdot)
98 points, The Real Review (March 2021)
This wine is the benchmark of the latent power, grace and inherent balance of the 2018 vintage in Margaret River. Texturally similar to the classically sophisticated 2014 vintage, but with far greater density and weight. Here, the savoury tannins are countersunk into the fruit already: shapely, firm, chewy, malleable – everywhere and nowhere at once. Waves of blood plum, cassis, blackberry, pomegranate, juniper, raspberries, saltbush, bay leaf and salted red licorice crash against the rocks, as kelp, nori, iodine, red gravel and brine ride the smaller sets out the back. Sensational. Astounding. A wine for the ages.
99 points, Wine Companion (February 2022)
Margaret River
Located three hours south of Perth, Margaret River is Western Australia’s most prestigious wine-growing region. Serious vineyard development began only in the late 1960’s following the publication of a report by John Gladstones in 1965 stating that the area had a similar climate to Pomerol or St Emilion, with low frost risk, plenty of sunshine and equable temperatures within the growing season promoting even ripening. Margaret River’s climate is warm and maritime, with some cooling influence provided by southeast trade winds. The soils derive from granitic and a gneissic rock over which laterite has formed. The region can be divided in three sub-regions: the cooler south between Yallingup and Karridale with predominantly lateritic gravelly loamy sands and sandy loams; the warm and sunnier Willyabrup in the centre with predominantly gravelly loams, but some gritty sandy loams and granitic gravels; and Margaret River in the north with similar soils, but slightly cooler temperatures. This is entirely consistent with style; the wines from Willyabrup being more generous than the highly structured wines of the north and the elegant styles of the south. Margaret River is best known for high quality Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends and top notch Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux blends. Over the years, the region has established an astonishing reputation illustrating a consistency in quality and a strongly focused winemaking culture.
Vasse Felix was the first commercial vineyard and winery to be established in Margaret River. The name is derived from Vasse (a French seaman who drowned last century while exploring the coastline on the ship Geographe under Captain Freycinet) and the French term for luck. Under the ownership of the Holmes a Court family Vasse Felix has carved an excellent reputation for its superbly made wines. The plush, intensely-flavoured and chocolaty Vasse Felix Heytesbury Cabernet Blend – a limited-release, best-of-vintage ‘Grand Vin’ – is a beacon of quality that is included in the Langton’s Classification. The Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon, also Langton's-Classified, captures regional rather than site-specific characters. Of equal reputation are the exemplary Chardonnays, both the 'standard' Vasse Felix and the flagship Heytesbury. The Shiraz is also excellent. The entry-level Filius range -- a Chardonnay and a Cabernet-Merlot -- offers exceptional quality and value, as do the even more affordable 'ground-floor' duo of Classic Dry White (Semillon-Sauvignon) and Classic Dry Red (Shiraz-Cabernet). Andrew Caillard MW, Langton's
