Winemaker Notes
Intense flavors of dried pears and citrus are evident on the palate, with richness from regular lees stirring during maturation. New French oak is in perfect harmony with the powerful fruit, adding complexity and structure wihtout overpowering the delicate subtleties. The finish, always a feature of Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay, is long and full-flavored.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale lemon-straw in color, the 2004 Chardonnay Art Series is ripe and expressive with matured Chardonnay notes of cashews, toffee, pineapple paste and apricot preserves. Rich and concentrated, this medium to full-bodied Chardonnay is satiny in texture and very spicy with a fruit-laced finish.
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Wine Spectator
Smooth, round and polished, balanced with lively acidity. A generous mouthful of gooseberry-accented apple and cream flavors, beautifully integrated and long on the finish. Has integrity and depth. Should develop well with bottle age. Drink now through 2016.
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Wine & Spirits
There’s substantial fruit concentration in this citrus-scented chardonnay, along with some tannins from oak age. It has a firm, sandy feel with flavors of pine nuts and lemon curd. This vintage of Art Series will mature over ten years or more.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
For many years now, the Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnays have rated among the very best of Australian offerings and are highly regarded on the world stage as well. So, when it turned out that we liked this wine but did not worship at its very feet, we were a little bit surprised. To be sure, it has solid fruit and convincing potential for further development in the bottle, but its range is not as grand as other vintages. It was tasted both here and there with very similar notes, and we also were able to taste a vertical of Art Series Chardonnays at the winery and came away greatly impressed. Indeed, the entire visit to Leeuwin was impressive with big scores going to the Art Series Cabernet and to the Art Series Shiraz. In fact, we gave higher points in those tastings to the 2003 and 2005 Art Series Chards than to this one. We apologize for seeming to damn with faint praise because this bottling is a very good wine in its own right.
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.