Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Campbell Mattinson independent review of Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon 2021. Campbell Mattinson is a leading Australian wine commentator, and the former chief editor of Halliday Wine Companion.

Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
AU$200. 14% alcohol. Screwcap. Margaret River.
96 points – Campbell Mattinson.

I’m a fan of Vasse Felix’s Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon – as explained in this article – and indeed in the approach of Winemaker Virginia Willcock, who has been an enormous force for good during her extended time at Vasse Felix. I’m also aware that Mike Bennie has reviewed (and scored) this release on The Winefront here, and so I won’t do a formal review here. But I have sat with this release for a couple of hours, so I’ll pass minor comment.

This release of Tom Cullity Cabernet greets you with a friendly face and then pierces you with its gaze. It’s both tight and approachable; it’s a warm handshake in a vice. It tastes of cocoa, purple flowers, redcurrant, olives, sandalwood and rosemary-brushed brine. It has that Vasse malbec back-story; that leathery-curranty hum beneath. I kept thinking of roast lamb, pink, as I drank this. As in, the wine reminded me of roast lamb, pink. It has that just-rightness. That spray of herbs, salt, meat and umami, in its own sweet way, from its own tender place.

See also [Full Vertical of Vasse Felix Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon]
See also [Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2023]
See also [Vasse Felix Mattinson 10-Star Winery]

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
Previous

Organic Hill Founders Release Preservative Free Shiraz 2021
Next

Southern Light Vineyards Ghostgum Chardonnay 2023: Review