Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's 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. Consider drinking it from 2013 to 2020+.
-
Wine Spectator
Polished, focused, fresh and vibrant, with a subtle interplay of pear, hazelnut, tropical fruit and tobacco aromas and flavors mingling effectively and gaining in intensity as the finish persists. Seamless and inviting, this should age beautifully. Drink now through 2020.
-
Wine Enthusiast
One of Australia’s benchmark Chardonnays continues its roll, offering up opulent scents of vanilla, peach and mango. Tropical fruit and toasty oak flavors are easily carried by a lush, full-bodied delivery system that seems to unfold kaleidoscopically on the palate, finishing long and multilayered. On the conservative side, drink now–2015.
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.