Cullen Wines matriarch Vanya Cullen honoured in King’s Birthday list

One of the region’s most prominent winemakers has received the ultimate award, the Order of Australia medal, for her services to the industry. Cullen Wines matriarch Vanya Cullen has spent more than 30 years at the top of her game in an industry once dominated by men. Ms Cullen is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to viticulture and oenology in recognition of her role among the pioneering winemakers to have built the reputation of Margaret River into one of the world’s greatest winemaking regions. Speaking to the Times from London while promoting Cullen Wines through a series of vertical tasting lunches and also celebrating what would have been her acclaimed mother Diana Madeline’s 100th birthday, Ms Cullen said she was “honoured and humbled” at the formal recognition. The award was the first handed down by King Charles III, who Ms Cullen lauded also as a monarch with the environment close to his heart. “King Charles is a huge environmental advocate and has supported organic and biodynamic and sustainable land care for many years, so it’s perfect timing,” she said. “It’s a blessing to have spent a lifetime working on the same beautiful land in the quest to make great wine sustainably in Wilyabrup, Margaret River. “I thank all the family, friends and colleagues for their support and congratulate all the winners.” The chief winemaker at Cullen Wines in Wilyabrup since 1989 — and managing director since 1999 — was born into the business started by her parents, Kevin and Diana. Ms Cullen said it had been a long fight to have her style of winemaking recognised. The King’s Birthday honours were just the latest in a long list of awards for the pioneer, with both her parents also previous recipients. Cullen Wines was one of the first wineries in Margaret River, although the family influence runs far deeper. It was Ms Cullen’s father Kevin who convened a meeting in Busselton in 1966 where locals could hear Dr John Gladstones speak about his recently published paper on the possibility of viticulture in the region. Kevin remained a great driver of wine in the region, and Di broke new ground as one of the first female winemakers, championing new styles from the fledgling winery. Vanya Cullen is the youngest of Kevin and Di’s six children, and from the time she assumed the role of chief winemaker in 1989 she has taken a path initially blazed by her mother. As one of the leading advocates for the biodynamic principles developed by Austrian philosopher and scientist Rudolph Steiner, Ms Cullen was credited with popularising the approach now successfully adopted by many of the world’s greatest wine producers. “The dream has always been making the best wine sustainably,” Ms Cullen said. In 2020, Cullen Wines became the first Australian winery to achieve carbon-positive status, with lightweight glass and different packaging and labelling among the initiatives.