Cullen 2025 Diana Madeline Legacy Series Solstice Sun Cabernet Sauvignon

Looking for a very special, limited-release wine as a Father's Day gift for a serious wine lover? Only around 400 bottles of this were made. Released this week, it is an impressively complete red blend, hand harvested on a Biodynamic Flower Day and New Moon in late February. This inaugural release was made using fruit from the oldest plantings of cabernet sauvignon from the Cullen Vineyard in Margaret River. This gem from Vanya Cullen and her biodynamic and organics-focused team is complex, silky and superbly balanced; immediately accessible in its youth but a potential cellaring prospect. It paired brilliantly with Asian-braised lamb loin chops. $350. https://cullenwines.com.au/

Henschke 2025 The Nurturer

 

This new release blend from the Henschke family has a calm, quiet charm about it. It clearly comes from a place of contentment. It is named in honour of family matriarch Prue Henschke, a viticulturist, botanist and environmentalist behind the organics practiced across the family's vines. The Nurturer is a most unusual combination of southern French varieties grown in the Eden Valley: carignan, counoise, grenache gris, grenache noir, clairette, cinsault and shiraz (each variety added in harvest order). It works brilliantly if you like your reds a little less blockbuster, a little more contemplative. Aromatic and vibrant with lively red and black fruit notes, we paired this with savoury Middle Eastern bourekas, thin layers of pastry filled with cheese and pepperberries. Excellent value at $40. https://www.henschke.com.au/