Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2011

Professional Ratings

• 96 Wine Spectator
  Rich, ripe and generous, deftly balanced to lift the pear, mango, floral and spice flavors with gentle acidity. Comes together on the supple, seductive finish, showing tremendous depth and intensity without losing any charm. Drink now through 2025.
• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  While all may not have been well in the east (of Australia) in 2011, all was well and sunny in Western Australia. The 2011 Art Series Chardonnay is starting to turn a vivid yellow in the glass, yet it retains glints of vibrant green still. The fruit that gathers around the acid (being the center point of the wine at this stage) is savory and taut. If anything, this wine is in a quiet phase right now—the fruit is tightly bound to its supporting phenolic and acidic structure, awaiting its next window.

  
  

• 92 Wine & Spirits
  From Block 20 at Leeuwin Estate, where the vines are close to 40 years old, this barrel ferments and ages in new French oak, adding hazelnut and smoky wood spice to the clean white-grapefruit flavors. The wine feels tightly knit and harmonious, suited to age for a decade or more, or to decant for crayfish, like the yabbies that thrive in the dams at Leeuwin Estate.