Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2004

Professional Ratings

• 95 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.
• 94 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.
• 91 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.
• 90 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.