2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec

The 2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec comes from a cool, wet season. While it wasn't as cold or as wet as 2017 before it, it could certainly be grouped in a similar category. And, as people are wont to do, the wines were compared to the great 2018 vintage that came before it and described as being two sides of the same coin—one warm and powerful and the other cool and refined. The truth is, both were excellent years, and this 2019 shows heightened floral perfume, fine tannins and an attractive graphite precision on the palate. Violets, bay leaf, tobacco, nori, dark chocolate and tapenade abound.

The bold and chocolatey 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec Tom Cullity rifles with mulberry, blackberry and blackcurrant aromas laced with graphite and inky tones, significant new oak sitting comfortably in the mix. Dense with deep wells of dark fruit flavor, this Margaret River wine retains impressive detail. The tannins are chewy and sturdy, which underlie a gravelly finish that goes on and on and on. It is in a holding pattern right now; all the pieces are waiting to unfold over at least a few decades.

The 2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is the first Tom Cullity without Petit Verdot (composed solely of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Malbec), and it hits differently because of it—no surprise there. On the nose, this is decidedly blue and black fruited, layered with resin and licorice, blueberry and star anise, hints of arnica and nori, with inflections of peat and tobacco, alpine mint (?) and mulberry. Usually, I see an unfettered core of raspberry in this wine, but in this year, it leans heavily on the darker end of the spectrum. On the palate, the wine is supple, spicy and fine, with blackberry coulis, cracked black peppercorns and fine acid that curls through the tannin structure. Tightly coiled currently and silky in its way, it's a super wine. It has a midnight sort of flow. I like it. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.