WTN: Cullens Chard 04, Mangan 04, Diana Madeline 03

Cullen is acknowledged as one of the top wineries of the Margaret River in Western Australia.

Cullen Chardonnay 2004 - Light green/gold. Oaky nose. Developed and ready to drink. Citrus rind and some butterscotch. A bit simple. Doesn't really grab me. A good wine but expensive.

Cullen Mangan 2004 - A blend of Malbec and Petit Verdot. Very dark. Sweet-smelling and very fragrant offering mint, tobacco and leather. Heavy and dry but quite smooth. The flavors echo the aromas. Some smoke as well. Fine tannins make this wine ready to drink but needs a grilled steak for maximum enjoyment.

Cullen Diana Madeline 2003 - A Bordeaux blend and Cullen's top wine. Menthol/meaty nose. Needs serious decanting at this stage to let it open up. Started out quite subdued. Lots of sweet fruit, mocha, chocolate, smoke and spice. Medium to full bodied. Very well balanced with good complexity. Seems ready to drink now since the tannins are already soft. Doesn't seem fully integrated yet, though and can probably improve with more time. Very impressive and real easy to drink.

[Jenise]

Nice notes--a winery I read about but almost never see wines from, though last year we did try a Semillon that your TN for the chardonnay could just as well have been about.

Jenise
I presume that would be the (excellent) Semillon / Sauvignon Blanc blend? Not particularly cheap, but typically ages beautifully for 5+ years.

I'm a big fan of the wines, though the prices have risen quickly over the last 5 years. Still value, but maybe not the great bargain.

Was a little underwhelmed with both the Chard and the Diana Madelaine at cellar door this time last year. It was at the end of the day, so perhaps the bottles were tired.

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

Yes, Ian, that's the one. I'm not a big semillon fan, but I bought a bottle for the cellar just to see what happens. I could taste that it had good aging potential, in fact I thought it needed more time to assert itself.