2020 Leeuwin Estate ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay
99 points, Ray Jordan
It would not surprise me if this was considered the greatest Leeuwin chardonnay yet. You would get no argument from me... there is elegance and power here. Subtle layered wine. It was a year of great concentration and power. Has pear and lime character that is part of the DNA. The fruit is generous, especially about the mid palate. Has a subtle and not overstated flinty character with a lift of spice. The oak is brilliantly managed and complementary. It's very tight and precise and the whole-bunch technique gives it that stalky, phenolics character. There's a savoury almond meal character on the finish. Incredible length and power here. The minerally character on the finish is quite pronounced. In the top three, certainly, of any Leeuwin chardonnay.
James Halliday, The Weekend Australian
99 points, Top 100 Wines of 2023
The perfect balance of this wine is central to its place at the top of the Margaret River chardonnay tree. The vintage saw little disease pressure, and the purity of the wine is absolute, white peach to the fore, sustained by perfect acidity. Drink by 2040.
98 Points Ken Gargett, Winepilot
Always one of our very greatest Chardonnays – Grand Cru, all the way. Crafted in 100% top-notch new French oak, this latest release is considered by many to be as good as any ever made, and it is hard to disagree. The wine is the palest yellow, with a nose immediately screaming complexity…Great intensity, and yet such is the balance that it seems almost imperceptible.
98 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
…The 2020 Art Series Chardonnay leads with power and density, not unlike the 2018 before it. Tight and green in the glass, you get salted pear, white peach, nectarine, red apple skins, preserved citrus and crushed shell. The wine has minerality and tension within the confines of the opulent fruit. Staggering length, as usual.
19.5 points, JJ
For more than 25 years I have been privileged to visit Leeuwin Estate well prior to the Art Series Chardonnay release date in March or April each year. The winemaking team have opened between 26 and 28 wines on each occasion including 6-7 wine verticals of initially the Art Series Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignon and…. more recently, serious verticals of the Art Series Shiraz as well. In more recent years I have been joined by Erin Larkin (Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate), Ray Jordan (His own The WA Wine Review Book & Wine Pilot website) and Peter Forrestal (Who has a string of wine accolades including being the wine writer for the West Australian for some years and also the founder and founding editor of the Gourmet Traveller Wine). These illuminating tastings are invaluable aids in attempts to rate the coming vintages against the giants of the past. Within the last 2-3 years, the 7 to 8 wine Chardonnay verticals have seen both the coming releases and the great aged wines back to the 1987 and 1982 vintages – which were both wonderful and in perfect nick. Based on these tastings, I believe that the 2020 is superior again -to the prior truly great 2016 to 2019 vintages at the same age. Full, opulent, long and dense. Open, round and seamless. Restrained viscosity. Power and length. Great wine! Grand Cru quality. More subtle, restrained and refined than the also extraordinary 2018 vintage.”
99 points, Ray Jordan
It would not surprise me if this was considered the greatest Leeuwin chardonnay yet. You would get no argument from me... there is elegance and power here. Subtle layered wine. It was a year of great concentration and power. Has pear and lime character that is part of the DNA. The fruit is generous, especially about the mid palate. Has a subtle and not overstated flinty character with a lift of spice. The oak is brilliantly managed and complementary. It's very tight and precise and the whole-bunch technique gives it that stalky, phenolics character. There's a savoury almond meal character on the finish. Incredible length and power here. The minerally character on the finish is quite pronounced. In the top three, certainly, of any Leeuwin chardonnay.
James Halliday, The Weekend Australian
99 points, Top 100 Wines of 2023
The perfect balance of this wine is central to its place at the top of the Margaret River chardonnay tree. The vintage saw little disease pressure, and the purity of the wine is absolute, white peach to the fore, sustained by perfect acidity. Drink by 2040.
98 Points Ken Gargett, Winepilot
Always one of our very greatest Chardonnays – Grand Cru, all the way. Crafted in 100% top-notch new French oak, this latest release is considered by many to be as good as any ever made, and it is hard to disagree. The wine is the palest yellow, with a nose immediately screaming complexity…Great intensity, and yet such is the balance that it seems almost imperceptible.
98 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
…The 2020 Art Series Chardonnay leads with power and density, not unlike the 2018 before it. Tight and green in the glass, you get salted pear, white peach, nectarine, red apple skins, preserved citrus and crushed shell. The wine has minerality and tension within the confines of the opulent fruit. Staggering length, as usual.
19.5 points, JJ
For more than 25 years I have been privileged to visit Leeuwin Estate well prior to the Art Series Chardonnay release date in March or April each year. The winemaking team have opened between 26 and 28 wines on each occasion including 6-7 wine verticals of initially the Art Series Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignon and…. more recently, serious verticals of the Art Series Shiraz as well. In more recent years I have been joined by Erin Larkin (Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate), Ray Jordan (His own The WA Wine Review Book & Wine Pilot website) and Peter Forrestal (Who has a string of wine accolades including being the wine writer for the West Australian for some years and also the founder and founding editor of the Gourmet Traveller Wine). These illuminating tastings are invaluable aids in attempts to rate the coming vintages against the giants of the past. Within the last 2-3 years, the 7 to 8 wine Chardonnay verticals have seen both the coming releases and the great aged wines back to the 1987 and 1982 vintages – which were both wonderful and in perfect nick. Based on these tastings, I believe that the 2020 is superior again -to the prior truly great 2016 to 2019 vintages at the same age. Full, opulent, long and dense. Open, round and seamless. Restrained viscosity. Power and length. Great wine! Grand Cru quality. More subtle, restrained and refined than the also extraordinary 2018 vintage.”
99 points, Ray Jordan
It would not surprise me if this was considered the greatest Leeuwin chardonnay yet. You would get no argument from me... there is elegance and power here. Subtle layered wine. It was a year of great concentration and power. Has pear and lime character that is part of the DNA. The fruit is generous, especially about the mid palate. Has a subtle and not overstated flinty character with a lift of spice. The oak is brilliantly managed and complementary. It's very tight and precise and the whole-bunch technique gives it that stalky, phenolics character. There's a savoury almond meal character on the finish. Incredible length and power here. The minerally character on the finish is quite pronounced. In the top three, certainly, of any Leeuwin chardonnay.
James Halliday, The Weekend Australian
99 points, Top 100 Wines of 2023
The perfect balance of this wine is central to its place at the top of the Margaret River chardonnay tree. The vintage saw little disease pressure, and the purity of the wine is absolute, white peach to the fore, sustained by perfect acidity. Drink by 2040.
98 Points Ken Gargett, Winepilot
Always one of our very greatest Chardonnays – Grand Cru, all the way. Crafted in 100% top-notch new French oak, this latest release is considered by many to be as good as any ever made, and it is hard to disagree. The wine is the palest yellow, with a nose immediately screaming complexity…Great intensity, and yet such is the balance that it seems almost imperceptible.
98 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
…The 2020 Art Series Chardonnay leads with power and density, not unlike the 2018 before it. Tight and green in the glass, you get salted pear, white peach, nectarine, red apple skins, preserved citrus and crushed shell. The wine has minerality and tension within the confines of the opulent fruit. Staggering length, as usual.
19.5 points, JJ
For more than 25 years I have been privileged to visit Leeuwin Estate well prior to the Art Series Chardonnay release date in March or April each year. The winemaking team have opened between 26 and 28 wines on each occasion including 6-7 wine verticals of initially the Art Series Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignon and…. more recently, serious verticals of the Art Series Shiraz as well. In more recent years I have been joined by Erin Larkin (Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate), Ray Jordan (His own The WA Wine Review Book & Wine Pilot website) and Peter Forrestal (Who has a string of wine accolades including being the wine writer for the West Australian for some years and also the founder and founding editor of the Gourmet Traveller Wine). These illuminating tastings are invaluable aids in attempts to rate the coming vintages against the giants of the past. Within the last 2-3 years, the 7 to 8 wine Chardonnay verticals have seen both the coming releases and the great aged wines back to the 1987 and 1982 vintages – which were both wonderful and in perfect nick. Based on these tastings, I believe that the 2020 is superior again -to the prior truly great 2016 to 2019 vintages at the same age. Full, opulent, long and dense. Open, round and seamless. Restrained viscosity. Power and length. Great wine! Grand Cru quality. More subtle, restrained and refined than the also extraordinary 2018 vintage.”
DETAILS
VINTAGE - 2020
VARIETAL - Chardonnay
COUNTRY - Australia
REGION - Margaret River, WA
BOTTLE SIZE - 750ml
