2016 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series

Community Tasting Note

3 comments have been posted

• Comment posted by mphatic:

  2/26/2022 8:00:00 PM - Unoaked?

• Comment posted by pmk:

  2/27/2022 3:52:00 AM - meant to describe it palate, not whether it ever was in an oak barrel, which it was. But its style is very different from the heavily oaked California wine makers. Google the winery and select the 2018 qnd then read the reviews they have posted - or even better buy it and taste it and you'll understand.

• Comment posted by pmk:

  2/27/2022 3:56:00 AM - Here is an explanation from a critic on their website:“This was the wine which took Australian Chardonnay from the dark ages of oak-embalmed curiosities or simple sunshine in the bottle to wines of supreme quality, able to sit comfortably with the great chardonnays of the world. For a time, it stood head and shoulders above anything else we could produce. These days, it has peers, from Margaret River and further afield, but it has never stumbled. It has remained as one of our absolute finest chardonnays to this day, and this latest release will only confirm that. Whether or not it is the very best chardonnay made in Australia is largely personal preference at this level, but there is no questioning that it is always a favourite. And a wine which always improves even further with time in the cellar. Fermentation in French oak and then a further 11 months in barrel. This release, obviously very young, explodes with stonefruit, nectarines, grilled nuts, peaches and a hint of vanilla oak, but it is well integrated and quite transparent. A note of honey emerges on the finish. The creamy, supple, seamless texture is a highlight and promises to become ever more thrilling in the coming years. It is already showing some early complexity and the flick of acidity carries it through to the extremely long finish, a finish which never drops in intensity. A wine which confidently walks the tightrope between elegance and sheer power but at all times, as with everything to do with this wine, it is impeccably balanced. 2018 seems yet another truly brilliant vintage in the region – but it seems that it almost always is. This scintillating chardonnay will improve in the coming years (be in no hurry). A wine which deserves a score somewhere around the 98 to 100. I have gone 98, only because I have no doubt it is going to get even better.”
  98 points
  Ken Gargett, WinePilot.com, March 2021