Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Cullen Diana Madeline

August will be a month of good food and great wine and I am pleased to be able to kick it off with the 2001 Cullen Diana Madeline Cabernet/Merlot. This is a very good, but slightly unusual wine.

The bouquet is very fresh and the colour of the wine very dark, almost inkish. The wine is full bodied and tastes of blackberry, loganberry and mulberry. You could swear there was a fair amount of Cabernet Franc and or Petit Verdot in the blend, but the label advises of a 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot mix.

The acids are still quite strong. This wine has a mighty grip. As most, this Cullen has a beautiful length in the finish. The structure of this wine is monumental and it needs another five years at least to soften. It will be a classic in 10 years time.

2 comments:

Baz said...

Did you decant / let it stand for a long time?

Alontin said...

I did decant, but only just prior to dinner, as I thought this would be sufficient for an eight year old wine. Earlier decanting would have been better, but not have changed my conclusion that this wine still needs time.