Cullen Wines is celebrating 50 years of sustainable wine making since its founders Kevin and Diane Cullen were persuaded to plant grapes at their Wilyabrup farm.
Their daughter Vanya Cullen has continued the legacy left by her parents and in more recent years transformed the winery to become completely biodynamic.
She is now chief winemaker and was named winemaker of the year by James Halliday in 2020 and the Australian Women in Wine Awards in 2019.
"It feels fantastic and it is an amazing thing to have reached 50 years," she said.
"We are one of the few people to have the same ownership the whole time, it has been in the Cullen family from the beginning, we are now second generation going into the third.
"The feeling is really of gratefulness and we are really grateful to be here which is even more poignant in these times and for the land and all the people who have contributed to Cullen Wines.
"There are so many people who have given so much to where we are now, family, colleagues, employees, everyone."
Ms Cullen said her mum and dad were incredibly positive people, her dad was a doctor in Busselton and her mum was a physiotherapist.
"They gave a lot all the time," she said.
"My dad worked on call every second night and went out to deliver babies.
"My memory of them from my childhood was that they were always doing things and breaking new ground, they were pioneers."
Her parents were originally going to plant Lupins on the property when John Gladstone, the author of the now famous study on wine growing in the Margaret River region, told them they should plant grapes.
"That sowed a seed so Dad called the first grape growing meeting in Busselton in 1966," Ms Cullen said.
"They had all these trial blocks of vineyards, there was one at the Minchins, one at Junipers which was mum and dads.
"I remember walking across Junipers with Caroline when I was about nine years old, we had a picnic of musk lollies and Vegemite sandwiches along the Wilyabrup Creek.
"We were walking back to her house and she said, 'Isn't it great that our parents started the region.'
"I remember feeling really happy about that and that was just an emotional memory which was a truth at that time."
In 1971, Kevin and Diane established Cullen Wines, they slowly planted vineyards in stages across the property.
The family produced their first vintage in 1974 which they tipped out after the fruit was bird pecked and tried again in 1975.
It took Kevin until 1979 to get a decent crop with Cabernet Sauvignon proving to be successful.
"Bruce Allen was the first winemaker, he was an agricultural scientist, then dad made the wine from 1977 to 1979 when Mike Peterkin came," Ms Cullen said.
"Mum took over in 1981, she won a trophy in the first year for her Sauvignon Blanc and was the first woman to win a trophy at the Perth Show."
Quality not quantity was the ethos left by Diane along with the use of sustainable practices, seeing the winery produce world class vintages time and again.
"Mum used to trial everything, she trialled vineyard posts and seaweed, there was always a sense of trialling things and experimenting," she said.
"That has has continued on, along with a legacy of caring for the environment and making quality wines.
"The enduring thing is the land because if you go back to the early wines in 1979 that dad made, they are amazing."
Before her mother passed away the family formed a company to manage the winery which included her five brothers and sisters, and she now has lots of nieces and nephews who were interested in wine making.
"It will all be taken care of, hopefully, you can never forecast what will happen, but all the family and children feel connected to Cullens because they have grown up with it," she said.
"I am just the custodian for this period in time."
To mark their 50 years, Cullen Wines have held sundowners throughout January with an event scheduled from 4pm to 7pm on Friday, January 22, 2021.
A ticketed event will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2021 from 4pm to 7pm. Tickets are $25 which includes wine and canapes and are available online from bit.ly/sundowner-tickets.