Cullen Kevin John Flower Day Legacy Series Chardonnay 2024

Cullen Kevin John Flower Day Legacy Series Chardonnay 2024
AU$350, 13.5% alcohol, screwcap, Margaret River.

The 2024 vintage was pretty torrid in Margaret River – the grapes for this wine were picked in mid-January, which is incredibly early for the region – but it just goes to show that the right grape varieties, in the right places, managed the right way, have a near unerring ability to grow great wine. Obviously this statement is only true up to a point, but it’s a truth that Cullen routinely proves.

This wine, from the hot 2024 season, is rich in flavour and in texture. It feels and tastes like a beautiful wine, from the outset. It tastes of grilled peaches, dried apricots, fresh pears, cedar, spice and cream. It’s rich but it’s also juicy and, dare I say it, refreshing. It has momentum. There’s a subtle – very – flint note, and whispers too of hay, honey and meal. It’s incredibly delicious. I’m not certain that this release will age for as long a period as some previous Cullen chardonnay releases but, even so, I am certain that this wine tastes profoundly good.

95 points – Campbell Mattinson.

Only 50 dozen produced.