Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This has a very vivid core of red plums and mulberries with very nicely fitted oak and spice. The palate has a wrap of sturdy tannin and silky texture at the edges. Fresh, red-fruit flavors hold the finish long. Drink or hold.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Generally, I find the 2017 reds from Margaret River are not travelling as well as I would want them to: many are starting to fragment and fray due to the challenging conditions during the growing season (it was the first wet and cold vintage since 2006). However, there are some estates that really excelled in this season, and I feel Leeuwin is one of those. Here, the 2017 Art Series Shiraz is mineral and fresh, with bloody red fruit and layers of graphite and gravel. There is blood and sheets of dried nori, and generally the wine is straddling the tight line of restraint and spice.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
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.