Leeuwin Estate Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 2016
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Wine & Spirits
Leeuwin’s Prelude Chardonnay sees 40 percent new French oak, in contrast to its Art Series line, aged entirely in new barrels. By turning down the intensity, winemaker Phil Hutchinson has created a gracious chardonnay that shows the Stevens Road vineyard in a gentle light. That gentleness extends to its texture, supple and silken, and to the pale scents of ginger and yellow flowers. The wine feels substantial, with intensity to its apple and baked-pear flavors—‘it vibrates on my palate,’ one taster said. All the elements of the wine are balanced, so it would probably age; the intention, however, is to present a wine to drink on release, and there’s little reason to resist its seductive beauty
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Wine Enthusiast
In this vintage of Prelude, the vineyards’ proximity to ocean couldn’t be more apparent. Sea spray, shells and all manner of beachfront smells are at the fore, backed by grapefruit, white spice and gunflint. The palate is salty and slippery. It’s a little austere, the acidity on the lean side and the oak a touch apparent, but pair this with a wide array of dishes, particularly seafood, and it should come alive
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Wine Spectator
A laser beam of toast and spice are welcome warming touches to the precise core of peach and citrus flavors, set on a succulent frame, lingering on the finish.
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James Suckling
Lots of ripe apple and pineapple character on the nose and palate. Full body, layered and rich. Tangy acidity. A juicy and fruity chardonnay.
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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.