2015 Leeuwin Estate ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay

Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2018

Brendan Jansen MW, Fine Wine Club
"Spectacular, fine and restrained, yet with depth and power. This is youthful, and needs years to hit its peak, but there is no doubting the sheer quality of the fruit underlying this wine. A wine for the long haul."

99 Points - Ray Jordan, The West Weekend
It was almost inevitable that if a West Australian white wine was ever going to score 99 points, it would have to be Leeuwin Estate's Art Series chardonnay. After much deliberation, a vertical tasting of previous greats from the estate and reflection on my tastings over the years, I convinced myself the recently released 2015 justified the score. There have only been three white wines I have awarded 99 points, two rieslings made by the great John Vickery in the 70s, and a Hunter Valley semillon, so the Leeuwin is in rarefied air. The latest iteration is a mighty wine that carries the indelible stamp of power from its famous Margaret River source vineyard, Block 20, but there is a new degree of delicacy and precision. And perhaps even more extraordinary is that the length on the palate, always the hallmark of great wines, has pushed new boundaries.

96 Points - Ned Goodwin, Halliday Wine Companion – 96 points
Generous of flavour and texture, imparted by Leeuwin's stamp of extended skin contact, an approach that demands impeccably ripe fruit. And so it is. White peach and nectarine notes are strung pitch perfect across scales of clotted cream oak and juicy acidity. Long and pliant. Each piece of the jigsaw is in perfect synchronicity. A pedigreed wine boasting an impressive track record. I have had older vintages reminiscent of top Meursault.

96 Points - Decanter 
Potent primary fruit, perfume and poise are the hallmarks of this long-lived classic - though thanks to earlier picking, less new oak and no malolactic, it has become sleeker. The expressive 2015 shows layers of heady oak, rock melon, dried pear, peach, pineapple, nougat and buttered popcorn. A relentless push of grapefruit acidity leavens and provides backbone and drive.