2018 Leeuwin Estate Museum ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay

Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2022
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2021
Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion 

James Halliday
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay needs no introduction. It is an icon of Australian wine and is one of Langton's Heritage Five which celebrates Australia's most exceptional and ground-breaking wines - the other four being Penfolds Grange, Henschke Hill of Grace, Mount Mary Quintet and Wendouree Shiraz. It is often compared favourably with great White Burgundies."The Art Series Chardonnay is Australia's finest chardonnay based on the wines of the last 30 vintages. The move to screwcap brought a large smile to the faces of those who understand just how superbly the wine ages.

99+ Points - Ray Jordan, The West Weekend
Let's put it this way. This is the closest I have come to awarding a wine 100 points. Stellar wine from a stellar vintage. The remarkable thing is that this is a wine 100 percent barrel fermented in new French oak barriques with regular lees stirring for 11 months - and it certainly doesn't taste excessive, or even slightly oak. It has such high-fidelity purity with complex seductive aromatics of vanilla bean and light oatmeal with a cutting minerality and spicy lift. But the palate, oh the palate. This is where things start to explode. Power, poise and persistence with a dry savouriness balancing the intense ripe fruit. It is such a long finish with an ever so slightly, charry finish completing a remarkable wine.

99 Points - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal (Tasted 2021)
Pale colour. Fresh lime, grapefruit, yeasty tonic water aromas with grilled nut notes. Fragrant grapefruit, white peach, nectarine fruits, bitter lemon, hint of tropical fruit notes, lovely integrated savoury oak complexity, al dente chalky textures, and fine mineral acidity. Finishes crunchy and long. A beautifully balanced Margaret River Chardonnay with superb precision, purity and concentration. A classic. Drink: Now-2036.

Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion - 98 points and Special Value Wine  ★ 
Benchmark pedigree Margaret River chardonnay from the perfect 2018 vintage. Kaffir leaf, ocean spray, nectarine, yellow peach, custard apple and white peach are the start. Saffron curls, vanilla pod and freshly grated nutmeg frame saline acidity, crouched and coiled. Length of flavour extends across the palate in an endless procession of texture and complexity. All of the power, grace and excellence of previous years is here, amplified. Drink by 2051.