Cullen showcases the benefits of biodynamics

Several leading winemakers adhere to biodynamic principles, which they say improve vineyard health and create better wines. 

Cullen Wines in Margaret River, Western Australia, are at the forefront of organics and biodynamics in Australia and are about to release a pair of sustainable white wines that demonstrate the similarities, and differences, of wines made using the biodynamic calendar. 

Vanya Cullen is a believer, and adherent to biodynamic wine production, which uses organic farming methods while also employing soil supplements prepared according to biodynamics founder Rudolf Steiner's formulas, following a planting calendar that depends upon astrological configurations, and treating the earth as "a living and receptive organism."

The two new releases are the 2025 Kevin John Legacy Series Fruit Day Chardonnay ($350), of which  646 bottles were produced, and the 2025 Kevin John Legacy Series Full Moon Fruit Day MOSH Chardonnay, also $350, and with a similar minuscule number of bottles produced. 

I'm no expert on biodynamics but Vanya Cullen and her team report "a set of whites with lifted perfume, texture and depth, slightly softer natural acidity than 2024 making them delicious even in their youth, and a Kevin John Chardonnay that looks especially powerful and refined. Across the board, 2025 trades the sheer heat and power of 2024 for classical perfume and balance. These wines will drink beautifully now and evolve gracefully in the cellar". 

The Legacy Series wines are made only in outstanding vintages using small parcels of fruit from single blocks. 

The grapes for these two wines were hand picked on biodynamic fruit days seven days apart. The first harvest was also on a Full Moon “Moon Opposite Saturn Harvest” astral event. 

Only a biodynamic-approved puncheon of each wine was selected. 

Winemaking was quirky, or innovative, with whole bunches placed in clay amphorae lined with beeswax for two days before pressing. The juice was then transferred to a biodynamic flower day puncheon to complete fermentation. Both wines were unfined and unfiltered. 

Both are tight, taut and terrific, impressively integrated, impressive biodynamic ambassadors, and would make a fabulous Christmas present for a serious wine lover. 

My favourite: for drinking now the fruitier Fruit Day. For the cellar: the higher tension Full Moon Fruit Day. 

These 2025 Kevin John Legacy Series Fruit Day wines will be available at cellar door and online from October 28 and released to distributors Mezzanine on November 1. See https://cullenwines.com.au/