The Art Series Launch!
Leeuwin Estate Launches their 2022 Art Series Chardonnay,
Cabernet, (& Shiraz 2023 Pre-Release)!
17 Wines Including:
3x Art Series Mini Verticals:
Art Series Chardonnay - 2007 | 2012 | | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
Art Series Cabernet - 2013 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
Art Series Shiraz - 2021 | 2022 | 2023
Hosted By Phil Hutchinson, Winemaker
Sunday March 9th
Lunch: Noon, 17 Wines & 5 Courses, $245
Tasting: 4-6pm, 17 Wines with nibbles, $135
Dinner: 6.30pm, 17 Wines & 5 Courses, $245
See the Leeuwin Estate museum releases on the online store here!
Leeuwin Estate’s Exceptional History
Family owned, Leeuwin Estate, one of the five founding wineries of the now famous Margaret River district of Western Australia, is under the direction of two generations who work with a team of highly skilled winemakers to consistently produce wines ranking alongside the world’s finest. In 1972, legendary Napa Valley winemaker, Robert Mondavi, identified the future site of the Leeuwin vineyard as being ideal for the production of premium wine and provided early mentorship to Denis and Tricia Horgan in the transformation of their cattle farm into Leeuwin Estate. Enjoying its first commercial vintage in 1979, Leeuwin was thrust into the international spotlight when Decanter Magazine gave its highest recommendation to the 1981 “Art Series” Chardonnay.
The international accolades have continued and Leeuwin now exports to 30 markets. The prestigious Langton’s Classification of Australian wine includes Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay in the top “Exceptional” category and amongst the iconic “Heritage five” celebrating Australia’s most exceptional, ground-breaking wines, whilst Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is classified as “Outstanding”. Leeuwin Estate has been included in US ‘Wine & Spirits’ Magazine’s Hall of Fame in the category of ‘International Wineries of the Year’ and with point scores as high as 98/100, the US Wine Spectator has included Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnays amongst the “Top 100 Wines of the Year” on numerous occasions. Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon has been a UK Decanter Magazine’s ‘Top 50 Wine of the Year’ and a US Wine & Spirits Magazine’s ‘Top 100 Wine of The Year’, whilst leading Australian wine commentator, James Halliday, includes Leeuwin in his ‘Top 100 Australian Wineries’.
leeuwinestate.com.au
“Leeuwin Estate is a class act, every facet of its business working with the precision of a Swiss watch. It stands at the very forefront of estate-based, family-owned wineries…”
James Halliday
See the 2022 NEW RELEASES amongst a lineup of
Australia’s top-rated wines, including:
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95 Points Gary Walsh
94 Points Ray Jordan
93 Points James Suckling -
96 points James Halliday
96 points The Wine Front
96 points Jeremy Oliver
95 points Robert Parker -
98 points James Halliday
98 points Ray Jordan
97 points Jane Faulkner
18.9 points JJ ( John Jens) -
99 points, Ray Jordan
99 points, James Halliday, Top 100 of 2023
98 Points Ken Gargett, Winepilot
98 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
19.5 points, JJ (John Jens) -
98 Points Huon Hooke
98 Points Ray Jordan
98 Points Cassandra Charlick
97+ Points Erin Larkin
97 Points Gary Walsh
97 Points Jane Faulkner
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97 Points Huon Hooke
96 Points James Halliday
96 Points James Suckling
95 Points Gary Walsh
94+ Points Erin Larkin -
97 Points Huon Hooke
97 Points Erin Larkin
96 Points Jane Faulkner
96 Points Aaron Brasher
96 Points Ray Jordan -
97 Points Jane Faulkner
96 Points Ray Jordan
96 Points Cassandra Charlick
95 Points Erin Larkin
94 Points Huon Hooke -
96 Points Ray Jordan
96 Points Ken Gargett
94 Points Gary Walsh -
96 Points Ray Jordan
96 Points Ken Gargett
95 Points Erin Larkin, Parker’s Wine Advocate
94 Points Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
The Wine List & Menu
Siblings Sauvignon Blanc 2024
93 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review (October 2024)
Very light straw-yellow hue; nettle, bracken and dried-herb aromas, traces of lime/lemon and kiwifruit as well. The wine has good intensity and depth of fruit on palate, backed by some structure which gives power to the finish and adds length. Smart wine.
Art Series Sauvignon Blanc 2024
94 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (May 2024)
The 2023 Art Series Sauvignon Blanc leads with gooseberry, kiwi fruit, green apple, cassis (something jubey), white strawberry and juniper. In the mouth, the wine is concentrated, saline, textured and long. This is routinely an impressive wine, as it offers elegant drinking in the future as well as today. 2023 was a superb (I repeat, superb) vintage in Margaret River, and this is testament to the restraint of the season that birthed it. Lovely. A portion of this wine is routinely matured in old Bordelais barrels, I assume this has happened again in 2023, and is responsible for some of the textural complexity in the mouth. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
Prelude Chardonnay 2023
95 Points Gary Walsh, The Wine Front (May 2024)
It’s the best Prelude I can remember tasting, I’ll say that much straight off. A little struck match, very spicy (some pepper and cinnamon), bright citrus and green pear, hazelnut, fine flinty grip, with a cool finish of excellent length. Fine-boned, but delivers just enough flavour. I was so taken by its balance and charm. Superb drinking.
1st Course
2nd Course
Art Series Chardonnay 2007 (Museum Release)
10/10, 95 points Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
"Around 3000 cases of the flagship Art Series Chardonnay are produced with Leeuwin Estate blocks 20, 22, 96 and 97 contributing to the blend (all Gin-Gin / Mendoza clone). It is all barrel fermented in 100% new French oak where it usually remains for around 12 months. The 2007 Art Series Chardonnay was still youthfully mute revealing a moderate intensity of peaches, oatmeal, chalk, lemon zest, ginger, anise and jasmine with the oak barely perceptible in the background. Rich, ripe, full bodied yet wonderfully structured with crisp acidity and a real minerality, this beauty has a very long finish with the oak integration already nearly seamless.
Art Series Chardonnay 2012
98 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
A very youthful bright green-quartz colour sets the scene for a riveting wine of exquisite purity and finesse. It almost floats in the mouth, so effortless is its invocation of all things chardonnay: white flowers, white stone fruits and immaculately balanced acidity. Oak? Well, yes it's there, but rendered mute by the fruit. Has greater staying power than any other Australian chardonnay.
Art Series Chardonnay 2020
99 points Ray Jordan, rayjordan.com
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.
Art Series Chardonnay 2021
98 Points Cassandra Charlick, Decanter (15 March 2024)
2021 was marginally cooler for whites, and while this is young, its power is irrepressible yet it also shows restraint and harmony. A fine gauze of delicate florals and spice tucked behind structure, power and tension. Tuberose, green peppercorn, pear skin, preserved lemon, green cardamon and peach blossom. The palate offers jewelled hues of peach pit; a little flint, lots of wet stone minerality and crushed white sage dance with a very fine thread of salinity and lacy acidity. This takes time to unravel and unfurl, but once it does, it's got everything. The structure is superb and the 100% new oak meticulosity managed. Is this the greatest Art Series yet?
Art Series Chardonnay 2022 (New Release)
2nd Course
3rd Course
Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon (New Release), 2022
Museum Release Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
97 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review (June 2017)
Deep red/purple: an outstanding colour in depth and hue. The bouquet is clean, fresh and alive with bright black fruit and violet aromas, touches of cedar and toasty oak, the palate very deep and concentrated, with lush fruit and abundant tannins, which counterbalance the fruit and sweetness. A powerful yet elegant cabernet with a very long and distinguished future ahead of it. An outstanding, profound wine.
Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
97 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review (November 2023)
Deep red with a good tint of purple in the rim, the bouquet showing tobacco/cedar, nori/briar, and peaty/iodine-like nuances. It's full-bodied and powerful, with lavish tannins, bright acidity, and good concentration. Redcurrant and blackberry—red and black fruits both evident. A very smart and age worthy cabernet.
Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
97 Points Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion (August 2024)
One of the distinctive features of this wine, and in a way a DNA link to all Art Series cabernet, is its savouriness. It’s the rolled tobacco, nori, iodine and whiff of new leather plus the cedary oak, but these are not separate, they form a whole impression. There’s also the core of excellent fruit, the structure, the supple tannins and the bright acidity. And the joy of drinking it.
Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (New Release)
3rd Course
4th Course
Museum Release Art Series Shiraz 2021
Open and closed fermenters with 20% whole bunches, plunged/pumped over daily, pressed to new and used barrels for a total of 18 months in oak. Deep, bright purple, crimson; after early (10 years) hesitation about the synergy that might be gained from this marriage of wine and place all doubts were comprehensively answered. Lovely medium to full-bodied blackberry and co flavours.
95 Points James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion (July 2021)
Art Series Shiraz 2022 (Current Release)
96 Points Ray Jordan, WA Wine Review
In many ways a breakthrough wine for Leeuwin and a clear marker of where they have been heading with this variety. As with the Siblings a small amount of malbec has been added along with the spicy and textural impact from a little viognier. It’s so delightfully poised and presented with its pretty and perfumed aromas opening with a plummy mulberry blue fruit character emerging immediately. It’s soft and supple with fine fruit characters supported with fine chalky tannins. Has a silky texture with an ever so subtle grainy feel adding to its appeal. Looking very smart.
Art Series Shiraz 2023 (Pre-Release)