Cullen Wines
Western Australia - Margaret River
About Cullen Wines
Cullen is a Margaret River icon that manages to live in the rare liminal space between old guard and avant-garde. Established in 1971, it stands as one of the region’s true pioneers and part of the original “Founding Four” alongside Vasse Felix, Moss Wood, and Cape Mentelle, launching just before Leeuwin and Woodlands. Cullen is undeniably a part of the Margaret River establishment, and yet, it continues to shift and grow, learning from the earth and native wisdom, putting biodynamic farming at the forefront thanks to Vanya Cullen, its tireless leader and winemaker. Today, Cullen is known for being Australia’s first carbon neutral, organic, and biodynamic winery. Many wineries can claim the latter two; few attain the trifecta.
The Cullen family’s wine story begins well before Margaret River had a name. Its roots in Western Australia date back to the late 1800s, when Vanya’s great-grandfather, Ephraim Mayo Clarke, ran a small winery and family business in Bunbury, about an hour north of Wilyabrup. When Ephraim died, it passed into the hands of his only tee-totalling son, who left the vines unattended. They eventually went into decline and the land was sold.
Fast forward two generations, and Vanya’s parents, Kevin and Diana Cullen, found their way back to the family legacy of winemaking. After both training in medical fields, traveling to Paris and Melbourne and Tasmania, Kevin and Diana purchased land in Wilyabrup and began farming sheep and cattle, with Diana doing much of the physical work herself while raising six children. “Mum was the first woman to wear trousers in Busselton,” recalls Vanya. Kevin worked full time as a doctor—a background that, interestingly, he shared with two of Margaret River’s other pioneers, Tom Cullity of Vasse Felix and Bill Pannell of Moss Wood. By 1971, after advice from viticultural visionary Dr. John Gladstones, they made the decision to plant vines on their Wilyabrup land, laying the foundation for what would become Cullen Wines.
Diana taught herself to make wine, which quickly earned her national recognition at a time when women were rarely acknowledged in Australian winemaking. She was head winemaker from 1981 until 1989, when her daughter, Vanya, took the reins. Vanya has become one of the most influential voices in Australian wine, and she is a vocal advocate for biodynamic farming globally. Her accolades are endless; most recently, in 2020, she was named Halliday Wine Companion’s Winemaker of the Year, and in 2022, she was the publication’s inaugural Viticulturist of the Year.
Today, the estate’s two vineyards are fully certified organic and biodynamic, farmed with meticulous attention to soil health, lunar cycles, and natural balance. From this land come Cullen’s two flagship wines, Diana Madeline, a Cabernet Sauvignon blend of structure and depth, and Kevin John, a Chardonnay that helped cement Margaret River’s place on the world stage.
Cullen’s legacy is inseparable from its sense of responsibility to place. Vanya speaks openly about learning from indigenous Wadandi knowledge and allowing the land itself to set the rhythm. “There’s 50 years of sustainable winegrowing from that energetic legacy of my parents caring for the environment, but we’ve also got 65,000 years of Wadandi sustainable land care,” she says. Part of that land care for Vanya is embracing the Wandani belief that there are six seasons in Margaret River instead of four. “It’s about listening to the land and what the land is doing, rather than overlaying a culture on it.”
Under Vanya’s visionary leadership, Cullen has reshaped how Australia thinks about land stewardship and environmental ethics. The ultimate proof is in the wines, all at once deeply expressive and quietly powerful, serving as a living, breathing embodiment of their Margaret River home. For over half a century, the Cullen family has written a key chapter of Australia’s winemaking history, and their story continues to unfold with an unwavering conviction that the land, when truly listened to, will always show the way.
- Owner Vanya Cullen
- Winemaker Vanya Cullen
- Average Annual Production 20,000 cases
- Farming Practices Certified organic & biodynamic