Leeuwin - Chardonnay Margaret River Art Series 2018

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Decanter: 97 Points

THE ICON From an excellent vintage – warm, with very few hot days – this muscular yet lithe Chardonnay suffuses the senses with Leeuwin Estate's clear and penetrating signature perfume of granular pear and fleshier fresh fig. Harmonious lemony acidity makes for an ultra-long, seamless finish, through a palate of acacia, lanolin, smoke and crème patisserie. The concentrated fruit effortlessly mops up the 100% new oak. A luminous, graceful and balanced powerhouse. (SA)

Wine Spectator: 97 Points

This impressive white is complex, supple and elegant, though not shy on intensity. Opens with creamy, satiny notes of apricot, pear, lemon curd and passion fruit puree, with touches of toasted hazelnut, salted caramel, jasmine and green tea. The way the details mingle with and complete one another makes this as complex as it is refreshing, with a fresh thread of acidity weaving in and out. (Web-2021, MW)

Wine & Spirits: 95 Points

The Leeuwin Estate, a former cattle station between the town of Margaret River and the sea, became a vineyard soon after Denis Horgan purchased the vast property in 1969. He planted a parcel of Chardonnay vines in 1975, which continue to produce the fruit for Art Series, a Chardonnay with a proven track record for long aging. Tim Lovett makes this wine by crushing the fruit, allowing it to settle for three days in contact with its skins, then racking it into French oak barrels to ferment with cultured yeasts. He ages the wine in those barrels (all of them new), with lees stirring, for 11 months. While that approach may sound technical—yes, the wine is clean—it results in a Chardonnay that buzzes with energy, quiet at first, then gaining youthful, athletic power. You might catch a sensation of peach, or beeswax, or lemon and milkweed, all of it integrated into a holistic impression and one that retains its integration for days after the bottle is opened. This is a great vintage of Art Series and it should develop beautifully over the next two decades.