Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2025

Ranked #1 of 23 2025 Chardonnay from Margaret River - Bright light to mid yellow colour; creamy sur-lie aromas, cashewnut, pie crust and cream filled pastries, lemon and grapefruit emerging later. The wine is full and precise, ample bodied with softly drying phenolics completing the picture. More citrus and stone fruit flavours appear with time in the glass. Acidity is soft and seamless: the structure is about phenolics as well as acidity. A beautiful wine that will reward cellaring. Drink 2026- 2038. 98 Points – Huon Hooke | The Real Review

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. A warmer than usual vintage, and dry one, resulted in very small crops, so lovers of this wonderful Chardonnay will need to move quickly to ensure they do not miss out. The good news is that the “tiny crops” meant concentrated fruit and a high-quality vintage. It does seem that all Margaret River ever does is provide variations on the theme of high- quality vintages. Not that we are complaining. As always, harvesting is dictated by the biodynamic calendar and occurred over five different Fruit and Flower harvest days, with two batches harvested on a Moon opposite Saturn Full Moon event. Mock all you like, but the results are evident for all to see in the bottle. A portion of the fruit went into amphorae for two days’ skin contact, while the remainder was whole bunch pressed to puncheons for a wild fermentation (as in a fermentation simply left to nature, with no inoculated yeast additions). Maturation was for seven months in puncheons, with 50% of them new oak. Shimmering lemon gold in colour, this is certainly youthful but wonderfully balanced and seriously concentrated. On the nose, we have notes of stone fruits, jasmine, peaches, nectarines and beautifully integrated oak. The structure is seamless and there is a fine line of acidity running the full length of the wine. Ideally, leave this for two to three years and then drink it over the following ten to twelve. It really does need a little bit of time to completely come together. The intensity is maintained throughout, and the wine is seriously persistent. Notwithstanding the need for a little more time, this is yet another exquisite addition to the Kevin John series. Stunning stuff. 98 Points – Ken Gargett | Wine Pilot