Catching up with the current releases in the ‘Art Series’ of wines from Leeuwin Estate in Margaret River, Australia.
Family-owned Leeuwin’s first vintage was 1979, and that makes it one of the five original wineries of the young Margaret River region. Founders Denis and Tricia Horgan are now joined by the second generation in running the business. The Art Series is their top range, the wines – particularly the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon – having picked up inumerable awards and plaudits over the decades.
This was my chance to taste those, plus the Art Series Riesling and Shiraz. I did not taste the other two wines in the series on this occasion, the Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvingon/Semillon blend.
The Wines
(2022) In a mild year, the Riesling harvest began on February 22nd and was completed within a week. A selection of the best parcels was chosen for this bottling, which saw minimal time on lees after fermentation in steel. Delicately floral and fresh on the nose, there is lime and blossom, but a gentle character from the outset. In the mouth it is a wine of great running mountain stream clarity, all about lemon and sharp apple flavours, a fine salty edge to the acidity in a long finish that ripples with lemon juice zestiness.
(2022) From an excellent vintage, the Art Series Chardonnay is fermented in 100% new French oak barriques, with a percentage of whole bunches in the mix. The wine is blended after 11 months in barrel. Despite that significant oak treatment, this has a gentle mealiness and creamy almond quality rather than anything overtly toasty. It seems a tad more precise than the previous vintage. There is a little buttery Brazil nut beneath, but also a certain coolness to the fruit, a hint of tangerine to peach and ripe pear. In the mouth it is medium-bodied and has very good freshness, the acid sparky and streaked with lime, that cuts through more buttery and tropical fruit flavours. Again there's salinity, and that plus the zesty citrus gives this fine definition, with a bit of grip too.
(2022) This Shiraz was harvested in the last week of February, at the same time as 2019's Riesling. Fermentation included 20% whole bunches, and the wine was matured in second and third use barrels for a total of 18 months. Vivid crimson in colour, there's a fabulously peppery aromatic, with loads of violet too, and charming blueberry and plum depth of fruit. A really attractive cooler climate style. In the mouth there's abundant sweet black fruit, quite glossy and ripe, but with a cherry skin grip of more tart fruit that gives an edge. The cedary barrel component adds more grip, as does a firm tannin quality and plenty of acid grip. The finishing impression is of freshness in among the more succulent fruit characters.
(2022) There's 3% Malbec in the blend too, in a wine from a top vintage for Margaret River, with a long, rain-free autumn allowing for slow, full ripening. The Art Series comes from selected parcels of fruit, the wine spening fully 22 months in barrel before bottling. Dark, saturated and dense in both colour and aroma, there's loads of spice and cedar, and a core of pure blackcurrant. In the mouth the creaminess of the texture impresses first, with a supple flood of black fruit that is ripe, fleshy and sweet. Mocha coffee and dark, roasted spices add a lot of depth and drama, then the finish picks up much more of the grippy, but fine tannin and a rasp of refreshing plum-skin tart acidity. Long and very pure in the finish, with cellaring potential.
See my notes on all Leeuwin wines contained in my database.