2020 Diana Madeline Magnum
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2020 Diana Madeline Magnum

2020 Diana Madeline Magnum

The 2020 Diana Madeline vintage was hot and dry. For the old block cabernet sauvignon vines these drought like conditions resulted in the vines producing small berries, and hence the vines were low yielding – .i.e. bunch numbers were average but with low berry weight. This produced a wine of elegance, balance and perfume… effortless.

Closed tanks, open fermenters, barrels and amphora were all used in the fermentation process, and the period of skin contact time lasted from 10 to 99 days depending on the batch of wine.

No additions of yeast, acid, or malolactic acid were made to this wine.

VINEYARD
100% Cullen Vineyard.
VARIETIES
92% Cabernet Sauvignon,4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec
HARVEST
Fruit and flower days between 8th February and 10th March, including a flower day MOSH Full Moon and a fruit day superMoon perigee, plus 2 flower day Moon Opposite Saturn Harvest picks.
OAK
This wine spent 13 Months in 50% new oak in a mixture of barriques and puncheons, with some biodynamic oak
ALCOHOL
13%
Vintage Notes
Tasting Notes
Reviews

2020 vintage was defined by dry conditions from the onset of budburst through to harvest in 2020.

A lower than average rainfall in 2019, and hot dry weather conditions in January, February and March made for almost drought conditions for harvest 2020.

Bunch numbers were about average, but low berry weights due to the dry conditions produced very low yields and wines which were balanced and pretty in nature. The harvest was unaffected by Covid 19 lockdowns as we had finished harvest and most of the fermentations had also finished, we just had the pressing of the red wines. Chardonnay yields were still affected by the previous year’s frost.

Wines of excellent balance and fruit purity, a vintage similar to 2003 in style. Best varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

  • Colour Garnett with ruby purple tinges.
  • Cellar Up to 50 years.
  • Bouquet Mulberry, chocolate, rose, iodine, salty plum.
  • Food Margaret River Wagu beef, Arkardy lamb.
  • Palate First impressions have juicy berry fruit, mulberry, plum, cherry, This unctuous fruit is framed by fine grained tannins and Wilyabrup earth, ironstone, and dust which expresses the heat of the vintage and compliments the concentration of the fruit.

‘Needless to say, Margaret River enjoyed another superb vintage with the 2022 season. Slightly cooler, Cullen report that it was a vintage of “immense perfume and texture”. This wine will be released early February to coincide with Diana’s 101st birthday.
The wine is a wonderfully vibrant purple in colour. The nose gives up plums, cassis, spices including nutmeg, chocolate, mocha, bay leaves, cigar box notes – think a freshly opened box of Cohiba Siglo VI – and near perfect oak integration. This is finely balanced and exhibiting immense length. The palate sees the emergence of aniseed, mulberries and coffee beans. An alluringly supple palate with the silkiest of tannins, though plenty of them – there really is some grip here. This will easily sail through fifteen to twenty years in a good cellar.’

98 Points. Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot

‘Really delivers as you might expect from this excellent concentrated and powerfully frame vintage in Margaret River. It’s dominant cabernet with smaller portions of merlot, cabernet franc and malbec. Typical of this wine since switching to biodynamics, it is bright and brilliant with a nervy tense energy to drive the palate. The succulent fruit is harnessed by fine chalky tannins and neatly played oak of which 55% was new. A wine of extraordinary elegance and poise with a few of many decades.’

98 Points. Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot

The 2020 Diana Madeline vintage was hot and dry. For the old block cabernet sauvignon vines these drought like conditions resulted in the vines producing small berries, and hence the vines were low yielding – .i.e. bunch numbers were average but with low berry weight. This produced a wine of elegance, balance and perfume… effortless.

Closed tanks, open fermenters, barrels and amphora were all used in the fermentation process, and the period of skin contact time lasted from 10 to 99 days depending on the batch of wine.

No additions of yeast, acid, or malolactic acid were made to this wine.

Vintage Notes

2020 vintage was defined by dry conditions from the onset of budburst through to harvest in 2020.

A lower than average rainfall in 2019, and hot dry weather conditions in January, February and March made for almost drought conditions for harvest 2020.

Bunch numbers were about average, but low berry weights due to the dry conditions produced very low yields and wines which were balanced and pretty in nature. The harvest was unaffected by Covid 19 lockdowns as we had finished harvest and most of the fermentations had also finished, we just had the pressing of the red wines. Chardonnay yields were still affected by the previous year’s frost.

Wines of excellent balance and fruit purity, a vintage similar to 2003 in style. Best varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Tasting Notes
  • Colour Garnett with ruby purple tinges.
  • Cellar Up to 50 years.
  • Bouquet Mulberry, chocolate, rose, iodine, salty plum.
  • Food Margaret River Wagu beef, Arkardy lamb.
  • Palate First impressions have juicy berry fruit, mulberry, plum, cherry, This unctuous fruit is framed by fine grained tannins and Wilyabrup earth, ironstone, and dust which expresses the heat of the vintage and compliments the concentration of the fruit.
Reviews

‘Needless to say, Margaret River enjoyed another superb vintage with the 2022 season. Slightly cooler, Cullen report that it was a vintage of “immense perfume and texture”. This wine will be released early February to coincide with Diana’s 101st birthday.
The wine is a wonderfully vibrant purple in colour. The nose gives up plums, cassis, spices including nutmeg, chocolate, mocha, bay leaves, cigar box notes – think a freshly opened box of Cohiba Siglo VI – and near perfect oak integration. This is finely balanced and exhibiting immense length. The palate sees the emergence of aniseed, mulberries and coffee beans. An alluringly supple palate with the silkiest of tannins, though plenty of them – there really is some grip here. This will easily sail through fifteen to twenty years in a good cellar.’

98 Points. Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot

‘Really delivers as you might expect from this excellent concentrated and powerfully frame vintage in Margaret River. It’s dominant cabernet with smaller portions of merlot, cabernet franc and malbec. Typical of this wine since switching to biodynamics, it is bright and brilliant with a nervy tense energy to drive the palate. The succulent fruit is harnessed by fine chalky tannins and neatly played oak of which 55% was new. A wine of extraordinary elegance and poise with a few of many decades.’

98 Points. Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot

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