Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2017
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The purity on the nose is unmistakable; defined by a fruit spectrum of Japanese pear, Tahitian lime, and Meyer lemon. Floral aromas combine with subtle spice, highlighted by frangipani, chamomile, cinnamon, and cardamom. Delicate notes of cashew, almonds, sesame, and graphite are threaded in the background. A clear expression of primary fruit unfolds into a delicate, contoured, and layered mid-palate, neatly laced with a fine acid structure. Presence, poise, and enviable length combine in symmetry, creating an articulating line and dimension.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Such complexity and resolve make for a very attractive nose with peaches, grapefruit, cedary oak spice, gunflint and wet stones. The palate has a plush, smoothly resolved texture with a rich, creamy texture and all-encompassing, ripe stone-fruit flavors, ahead of a very long, smooth finish. Grilled-hazelnut and apricot-kernel flavors to close. Great to drink now, but certainly a decade of cellaring in the tank, too.
-
Wine Spectator
Opens rich and lush, with grilled pineapple, ripe pear and fleshy apricot flavors. Details of mineral, lime skin and Meyer lemon add a fresh thread of acidity and a sense of precision, finishing with a note of sesame seed.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 vintage in Margaret River was cool and wet, and it was the great producers that excelled that year, mainly by virtue of reactive and courageous vineyard management. The wine is closed for now, and it's savory and slick. It's in a quiet place now but will open up again over time. It's almost rambunctious, which flies in the face of the vintage that birthed it. The winemaking remains relatively consistent across the years: hand-picked fruit from Block 20 and 22 (planted in 1976 and 1978, respectively). Thirty percent of the cuvée was whole bunch pressed to 100% new Burgundian oak, while the balance was destemmed, crushed and pressed to 100% new Bordelais oak.
Other Vintages
2020- Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Companion
Australian Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Companion
Australian Wine -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
- Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
- Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Guide
Connoisseurs'
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine
In 1972, legendary Napa Valley winemaker, Robert Mondavi, first identified the future site of the Leeuwin vineyard as being ideal for the production of premium wine and provided early mentorship to owners, Denis and Tricia Horgan in the establishment of Leeuwin Estate. The first vines were planted by hand over a five year period from 1973.
Featuring state-of-the art facilities, the winery building was opened in 1978, celebrating with a trial vintage. Leeuwin enjoyed its first commercial vintage in 1979, and was thrust into the international spotlight when Decanter Magazine gave its highest recommendation to the 1980 "Art Series" Chardonnay in an international blind tasting.
Maintaining a team of highly skilled and dedicated winemakers, Leeuwin Estate is now under the direction of two generations of the founding family.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Home to some of Australia’s most elegant and long-lived red and white wines, Margaret River is situated in the farthest reaches of Western Australia. Relatively warm and dry, the region is cooled by breezes from the Indian Ocean. Margaret River takes some inspiration from Bordeaux, producing top-quality Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux Blends with firm structure, mouthwatering acidity, balanced alcohol and notes of herbs and spice. For white wines, refreshing blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon as well as complex, age-worthy Chardonnays are regional specialties.