Cullen Red Moon Wilyabrup Margaret River 2024
This wine isall about the fruit and purity of expression. Attractive purple incolour with abright magenta rim. The nose isfull of juicy raspberry with tobacco, vanilla, savoury plum and raisins. The palate has remarkable structure with unctuous juicy red fruits lined with savoury plums and pomegranate. Well-orchestrated tannins support along finish, with floral notes and an ironstone polish.
This wine takes itsname from the 'Red Moon' that occurs during a total lunar eclipse when the light filtering through the Earth’s atmosphere dapples the moon in red light. In a change from previous vintages, two-thirds of the fruit was sourced from the neighbouring Metricup vineyard, located just 2 km from the winery. The remaining third was sourced from the Cullen vineyard. Both vineyards are located in the Wilyabrup sub-region, located 20 kilometres north of the Margaret River township. The soils are old, granite and gravely sandy loam, overlaying lateritic subsoils.
Fruit was hand harvested on 12th, 13th and 21st February on two flower days and one fruit day. Itwas destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts, before maturing inold oak for 8months. The wine was bottled with no additions or fining.
Having celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2021, Cullen is one of the oldest and most awarded family wineries in Western Australia’s famous Margaret River region. First established in 1971 by Dr Kevin and Diana Cullen, the estate is certified biodynamic, carbon neutral and naturally powered, with a philosophy summed up in three simple words: ‘Quality, Integrity and Sustainability’.
Di and Kevin’s youngest daughter, Vanya, who has worked at the winery since 1983, became Chief Winemaker in 1989 and Managing Director in 1999. She has worked tirelessly to continue developing the winery over this time, first introducing organic farming in 1998 and then, in 2004, saw it classified as a fully certified biodynamic estate. In 2000, Vanya was named Qantas/The Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year, becoming the first woman and Western Australian to do so.
In 2019, celebrating 30 years at the helm, Vanya received double Winemaker of the Year honours at both the Australian Women in Wine Awards and the Halliday Wine Companion Awards. James Halliday, Australia’s best-known critic, said, “Her commitment to improving Cullen Wines while leaving the world a better place is reflected in the winery’s carbon-neutral and naturally powered status.” This commitment was further recognised by Vanya winning James Halliday’s inaugural Viticulturist of the Year award, with Tyson Stelzer noting, “Vanya Cullen possesses a deeply emotional connection with her vines and her land like nobody else.” In 2023, Vanya was awarded the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to viticulture and wine. The acclaim Vanya has received reflects her fierce dedication to promoting sustainable viticulture. She is an influential figure to like-minded winemakers across the world.
The Cullen wines hail from two estate-owned vineyards in Wilyabrup, a subregion of Margaret River. In an effort to promote the subregion as a distinct winegrowing area of Margaret River, all the Cullen wines are now labelled as Wilyabrup. Both estate vineyards, ‘Mangan’ and ‘Cullen’, are certified biodynamic and lend themselves to wines made with no additions of yeast, acid, or tannins.
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