Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec 2020

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2024

Vasse Felix, Margaret River’s founding wine estate, was established by Dr Tom Cullity in 1967. Among his first plantings were Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec vines, from which he produced the estate’s first red wine. The Tom Cullity  Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec, Vasse Felix's flagship red, descends from these original vines and represents the purest expression of their history, place and vintage.

"I expected this to be good, and it has delivered. I see the power and concentration of the 2018 and the elegance of the 2019 with the restraint of the 2017. Beautiful, perfumed fruit with tremendous intensity. The palate is totally seamless with a velvety feel to it. So vibrant with an energy and drive that takes it effortlessly to a very long finish. Everything and everything in its place. The intensity of the blackcurrant and red fruit combination is extraordinary, yet it delivers with finesse and poise. Pretty and at the same time powerful, with a degree of delicacy and grace. A great, great wine."  Ray Jordan

"Bright garnet. An incredibly full and complex perfume slowly teases apart, revealing woodsy raspberry pip, salty sea breeze, potpourri with fresh rose petals, a hint of orange peel, crushed rock, mulberry, mulberry leaves and shiitake mushrooms. A plush, yet beautifully fresh and elegant mouthfeel that remains textured thanks to classically fine tannins. A hint of raspberry and another touch of orange combine with savoury, crushed rock and a subtle cigar nuance, finishing the super fine palate.

A stunning vintage with low yields and fantastic quality. The small sections of Tom’s old plots were early to ripen by the end of March. They were hand-picked, destemmed and transferred to fermenter without crushing and then allowed to ferment with the natural yeast. The Cabernet is static fermented, gently pumped over through a splash tub and then left on skins for up to 29 days to stabilise and make structurally sound. The Malbec and some Cabernet Sauvignon were open fermented, hand plunged and pressed dry. All batches were basket-pressed to fine French oak and matured for 18 months. Only 30% of the barriques were racked and returned once, with the remaining barriques left on lees for the full 18 months. A small amount of Petit Verdot was used as a little seasoning in this warmer vintage. Classic, high-quality old vine portions of Malbec were used, bringing the darker more mulberry fruit to the foreground, adding to the beautiful mix of red-fruited, ancient clonal Cabernet that Tom planted."  Vasse Felix

Expert reviews

"I expected this to be good, and it has delivered. I see the power and concentration of the 2018 and the elegance of the 2019 with the restraint of the 2017. Beautiful, perfumed fruit with tremendous intensity. The palate is totally seamless with a velvety feel to it. So vibrant with an energy and drive that takes it effortlessly to a very long finish. Everything and everything in its place. The intensity of the blackcurrant and red fruit combination is extraordinary, yet it delivers with finesse and poise. Pretty and at the same time powerful, with a degree of delicacy and grace. A great, great wine."  Ray Jordan, WA Business News - 99 points

"The 2020 season in Margaret River was an interesting one: warm, low yielding and very early (not as early as 2024!), with great marri blossom aromas and responsible for quite tannic, lushly fruited wines. Generally regarded as very good to excellent, the season had the potential to produce wines that were firm and closed, yet it didn't. So here, the 2020 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is floral on the nose, with raspberry pip, rose petals, pink peppercorn, sumac, clove, a hint of sandalwood and sun-dried kelp. In the mouth, it is everything the nose promises, with a splay of ductile tannin that bends and moves with the fruit as it progresses over the palate. This is a super release from a great year; it's very much in line stylistically with the 2018 and 2014 Tom Cullitys. Drink 2024-2050."  Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate - 98 points

"The nose is wonderfully complex and perfumed with aromas of blackcurrants, violets, wild blackberries, graphite and eucalyptus. The full-bodied palate has seamless tannins and focused acidity, giving notes of mulberries, mocha, dried herbs and saltbush. Very refined and polished with an underlying power. Made from a blend of 81% cabernet sauvignon, 16% malbec and 3% petit verdot. Excellent. Drink or hold. Screw cap."  James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com - 97 points and Top 100 Wines of Australia 2024 

"This is the most impactful of the lineup, with the tannins and oak making an appearance much earlier in the palate transition than the previous vintages. But with a little bit of air, the spectacular fruit starts to build and just keeps on going, coating the whole length of the palate. Intense and powerful, yet this remains silky and supple. A superstar, but one that I would like to see in the third decade of its life."  Barry Weinman, Fine Wine Club - 97 points

"Winemaker Virginia Willcock worries about her flagship wines leaving the fold, as in Heytesbury Chardonnay and Tom Cullity, released too young, she says. And while she’s right, anyone buying them knows time will reward the patient. It’s built for ageing, but I’m impatient, and this Tom Cullity is youthful but also complete. Malbec, off the original plantings, comprises 16% of the blend; 3% petit verdot, too, is fundamental to the shape and flavour profile. Dark-fruited, meaty, spicy, complex, roasted chicory accented, floral and beguiling. Fuller bodied with exceptional tannins, all textural, expansive and long, working in tandem with the acidity to a long finish. Drink 2025-2040."  Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion - 97 points

"Produced from vines planted in 1967 by Dr Tom Cullity, this top Cabernet blend was renamed after the estate’s founder in 2013. From a fantastic vintage, this is still a baby of a wine considering its lifespan. The nose opens with an innate flashiness of red berries and tuberose absolute; but prettiness and charm underpin the opulence. Intensity and concentration on the palate; tannins are tight-knit and firm, yet with just enough movement to support the fruit weight and silvery acidity. Fruit is pristine yet powerful. Sun-warmed ironstone gravel and a hint of oak spice frame a flush of raspberry, tomato skin and delicate coppa meatiness. Judicious use of oak lets the fruit shine, and the length is outstanding. Elegant, with a long life ahead, yet it will drink well in its earlier years thanks to its generosity of fruit and sense of ease."  Cassandra Charlick - 96 points

"The colour is not too dark or too youthful but there are earthy, ferrous/ironstone and nori/dried seaweed aromas that team well with the intense and tightly packed palate structure. Firm and long: a serious wine worth cellar space. It's young but there is already a lot of detail. Impressive. Drink 2025-2040."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 96 points

"Gorgeous wine. Come hither, supple texture with strands of building, silty tannin a distinct feature. A plushness and dark fruited, brooding profile of fruit, woody spice, herbal nuance and brine-laced minerality underlying. There’s a pedigree immediately noted – concentration, control, density and stretch of flavour. The perfume is off-the-charts inviting in sweet fruit, mesh of herbs, sea spray, earthiness and nutty savouriness. Lots on there. A bit of woody chew through the finish, a succulence flows on in saline elements and bright, blackberry fruit with piquant herbal trails lingering. A very composed, quite generous and striking red. Drink 2025-2040."  Mike Bennie, The Wine Front - 95+ points

Awards

James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2024

Virginia Willcock

Virginia Willcock is a prodigious talent who has been instrumental in taking the fortunes of Vasse Felix, a heavyweight in Australian wine and Margaret River’s founding wine estate, to the next level. Willcock joined Vasse Felix as Chief Winemaker in October 2006, is still there today, and believes her best wine is still to come.

To date Virginia has completed  over 30 vintages in Margaret River, which makes her a respected authority on Margaret River and its terroir. In addition, she has also spent time abroad doing international vintages in Albania, Italy (Trentino, Sicily and Abruzzo) and New Zealand.

Virginia is one of the most awarded female winemakers in Australia, having been named 'Gourmet Traveller WINE Australian Winemaker of the Year' in 2012, 'Winemaker of the Year' by The West Australian Good Wine Guide 2013, and 'Winemaker of the Year' in the 2017 Australian Women in Wine Awards. Virginia was also nominated as 'Winemaker of the Year' in Wine Enthusiast Magazine 2014 Awards and 'Winemaker of the Year' in the ASVO (Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology) Award for excellence 2016.

Despite her success, Virginia’s not taking her foot off the accelerator. And she’s constantly learning about the region she loves. "My winemaking has become more about a natural expression from a piece of ground," she says, "and every tiny piece of ground with every [grape] clone and variety behave differently. There’s amazing little personalities that come through that I’ve been able to discover."

Click on image to play video

The article below by Alana House appeared in https://www.drinkstrade.com.au/

Virginia Willcock, winner of Winemaker of the Year at the 2017 Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA), talks to Ray Ruano about following her passion and the challenges of winemaking.

For more than a decade, Virginia Willcock has been spreading the word about the unique, thriving Margaret River region, which has helped shape Vasse Felix into the thriving, global wine estate it is today.

Vasse Felix is celebrating its 50th birthday this year (2017) and was recently rated the best new world winery in the world by US wine publication Wine Enthusiast.

As a respected authority on Margaret River winemaking, Wilcock has represented the unique region through media and trade conventions and as a wine show judge, while completing almost 25 vintages in Margaret River.

Her journey to becoming a winemaker

From the age of 15, Willcock knew the world of winemaking was for her.

"My parents had a little vineyard, north of Perth and one day my dad came home one day and said 'You can study winemaking' and I went 'Wow! That’s exactly what I want to do'," Willcock recalls.

She went on to study winemaking at Roseworthy Agricultural College, which is now a part of the University of Adelaide.

"I loved the idea of growing fruit, and then turning it into something that could be more beautiful and would give people a lot of enjoyment," Willcock noted in a Vasse Felix’s biography.

Throughout her career, Willcock has gained extensive knowledge and experience from her travels on winemaking and the importance of wine regions in regards to the history of the land, soil and air.

She told Wine Australia: "My grape and wine philosophy is a beautiful natural expression of a place… When I smell the forest, smell the ocean, smell the beautiful dirt, I want to see some of that come through in the wine in a natural, earthy, rustic sense."

During her travels through vineyards, she has developed a passion for Cabernet Sauvignon, which is Margaret River’s best performing wine varietal.

Her love of Margaret River, home to Vasse Felix

Located south of Perth, the Margaret River provides a Mediterranean climate that makes it an ideal region for growing grapes and fine wine.

"I am blessed because Margaret River is such a great place to grow grapes, so that makes my job easier," Willcock admits with delight.

She believes that the Margaret River region is one of the greatest in the world as the wines continue to strive to reach their full potential.

"I wouldn’t want to be making wine anywhere else!"

Her passion and best advice

Willcock shared that it is important to have passion for what you do in life.

"You gotta be driven by your passion," she said: I think that if you’re passionate about something, you will always do really well because you love it. I think it’s the love for [winemaking] that has given me that drive to work as hard as you have to as a winemaker."

When asked what advice she would have given herself at the start of her career in wine, she said: "Get some practical experience before you study."

Although her family owned a vineyard, she admits she never participated in any of the winemaking

"Operating pumps, winery equipment, and just understanding what the processes are, from start to finish [is important]."

Life as a winemaker and the challenges of winemaking

As for the most rewarding part of being a winemaker, Willcock simply said: "I think it’s creating something new every year, something that is new and beautiful that represents that year, the conditions, and the place that you’re from."

She makes it clear that because you only get one chance every year, so you cannot "stuff it up".

"There’s an immense satisfaction in finding the best of what you can do on an annual basis," she said.

The winemaking process is a very important one as several decisions go into perfecting a bottle. For Willcock, the decision-making is a special aspect of winemaking.

"A number of decisions are made for every grape batch, when to harvest them, [and] how they will flow in the winery and eventually in the bottle." Willcock said. "Two hundred decisions are made for every little batch of wine. The decision not to do something is just as important as the decision to do something."

Willcock shared that having an intimate understanding of the land and where the grapes are grown is a challenge.

"Understanding the things that make [the land] different and being able to respond to that [is key] because it’s all about nature." Willcock said. "Nature delivers, and you just have to nurture it."

About the winery

Vasse Felix was the first commercial vineyard and winery to be established in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. In 1965 Dr John Gladstones emphasised the region's suitability in his report ‘The Climate and Soils of Southern WA in relation to Vine Growing’. Two years later Dr Tom Cullity planted vines and Vasse Felix was born..

Tom was a cardiologist working in Perth when he decided to turn his hand to growing grapes. He searched obsessively for the perfect plot of land, taking guidance from the research of John Gladstones (1965), looking for 'red gravel in redgum country, with clay about 18 inches below the surface.' He eventually settled on an 8 acre piece of land near Caves Road by the Wilyabrup Brook which he purchased for the princely sum of $75 an acre! Among his first plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec vines was what we now refer to as Houghton clone Cabernet Sauvignon, the core of Margaret River’s finest Cabernets. This original plot of land now forms part of the Vasse Felix Home Vineyard which has been expanded over time to 52 hectares in size.

Tom used to drive down on the gravel roads from Perth to Margaret River after the working week to nurture his young vine plantings, work all weekend, before heading back to his 'day job' late on Sunday afternoons. Tom is quoted as saying of this period: “Much of the time, in different ways, I was on my own. I knew nothing except what I had read in books. There was no local source of basic equipment. Quite a lot of the local farmers must have thought it was a joke.”

In 1984, not long after retiring as a doctor, Tom Cullity sold Vasse Felix to David and Anne Gregg, who in turn sold to the Holmes Court family in 1987. Paul Holmes à Court is the current owner and Chief Executive Officer.

Vasse Felix’s range of wines includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends, with the major focus on Cabernet and Chardonnay, the strengths of Margaret River. Grapes are sourced from three Margaret River vineyards; the Home vineyard, Gnarawary vineyard and Adams Road vineyard.

Home Vineyard

The original Vasse Felix vineyard planted by Dr Tom Cullity in 1967 and the site of Margaret River’s oldest vines, with careful expansion made over time. The vineyard is home to Vasse Felix’s winemaking facility where all Vasse Felix wines are made and bottled, as well as the Vasse Felix Cellar Door and Restaurant. Located just 4km from the ocean, the Wilyabrup ridge elevation offers enhanced sea breeze exposure and lean, well-draining gravel loam soils suited to Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Grows fruit for the Icon and Premier wines.

First Planted: 1967 
Soils: Gravel loam over clay 
Sub-region: Wilyabrup 
Altitude Range: 80 - 110 m
Total Area Under Vine: 52 ha

Gnarawary Vineyard

The Gnarawary blocks of this vineyard became part of the Vasse Felix Estate in 2015. Located centrally within the Margaret River Wine Region and experiencing cooler conditions to the Home Vineyard, this site’s free-draining lateritic gravel and moderate climate create an ideal environment for Chardonnay, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc. Grows fruit for the Icon and Premier wines and Alternative Collection wines.

First Planted: 1997 
Soils: Gravel and sandy loam over clay 
Sub-region: Wallcliffe 
Altitude Range: 75 - 95 m
Total Area Under Vine: 93 ha

Adams Road Vineyard 

The largest of all the Vasse Felix vineyards, this site was planted in 1998 in the warmer, Carbunup area of Margaret River. The vineyard grows fruit with ripeness, approachability and generosity of flavour, ideal for Vasse Felix’s Regional (Filius) wines and all-occasions Classic Collection wines.

First Planted: 1998 
Soils: Deep red to sandy loam, gravel and clay in areas 
Sub-region: Carbunup 
Altitude Range: 35 - 45 m
Total Area Under Vine: 146 ha

The Home Vineyard

The story of the name 'Vasse Felix' and the bird on the label

An expedition was undertaken by the French to map the coast of Australia (New Holland) from 1800-1803. The expedition discovered the south-west coast of Australia but in 1801 disaster struck when nineteen-year old French seaman, Timothee Vasse, was lost in the surf during a raging storm.

While originally thought to have drowned, nobody is sure what happened to the unlucky and unfortunate Vasse. Tom Cullity was an avid historian and hopeful that his vineyard would enjoy a happier fate, he named it Vasse Felix, meaning 'lucky' Vasse - felix being the Latin word for fortunate or luck. 

The bird depicted on the label is a peregrine falcon. Most of the fruit for the first Vasse Felix vintage in 1971 was eaten by native birds, so Tom Cullity decided to train a falcon to keep the birds off the fruiting vines. The exercise, however, proved unsuccessful, as the first time the falcon was released to circle the vineyard it flew straight into the surrounding forest, never to return.