2021 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec

The 2021 Tom Cullity showcases the cooler season, with wintergreen and cedar elements leading, well supported by fleshy blackcurrant and mulberry aromas. The nose is punchy and the palate is firmly structured, evoking an old world expression due to sinewy tannins that sit comfortably in balance with considerable power before a finish of exceptional length. Very young and needs a little time to come together.

The 2021 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec was released just earlier this year in 2025, and this will be the only year in which there will be two releases of the wine in the same calendar year. The Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec has been brought forward in its release cycle to three and a half years from harvest, while the Heytesbury Chardonnay—the estate's flagship white wine—has been pushed back into the following year. So in context, the 2021 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is lighter and finer than all of the previous vintage releases, and it shows more of an emphasis on tannin than fruit. I like this, as it is a reflection of the challenging season from whence it came: warm conditions—not hot—and with constant rainfall. This rainfall also brought with it cloud cover, and the harvest started the latest of all vintages, with the exception of the cool 2017 and 2019 seasons. This is a lovely wine, one that defies and encompasses its year.

Sweet and fragrant mulberry and raspberry meld with vanilla bean and cracked cardamom first off, with emerging notes of potpourri adding colour and prettiness. From there it's a cascading and unfurling with deeper notes of graphite, warm gravel, gentle bay leaf, tilled earth and sweet biscuit. It's deep and lush but never heavy. Air reveals savoury notes of black olive, tomato bush and hints of nori umami. There's flickers of dark chocolate and espresso, too, and a graphite minerality underpinning it all adding further class and interest. The palate has beautiful texture - it's silky smooth, elegant and harmonious. Vibrant notes of mulberry and red plum lead, followed by fine cedar, delicate milk chocolate, blackberry, gentle graphite and earth. All of this before a sheath of wonderfully integrated and fine espresso tannins frame it up along with a freshening and cooling line of minty acidity. There's wonderful detailed and elegant length here. Balanced and complex.