Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

"Go back to the early days and it is fair to say the Cabernet struggled to garner the accolades which were showered upon the Chardonnay. No longer. This is now another jewel in their crown."  Ken Gargett

"Leeuwin Estate is for me one of the most Bordeaux like of Margaret River's top line cabernets."  Angus Hughson 

The Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced primarily from the 1975-planted Block 8. The vineyard, planted with the famed Houghton Selection clone, is meticulously managed to promote the development of high intensity fruit and fine classical grainy tannins. Today, a small percentage of Malbec is included in the blend, giving the wine an inky depth and density.

"This was a freak vintage in the hands of many winemakers in WA, capable of power, balance, ripeness and glory. The fruit flavours, while slinky and seductive, are not the major player here. And that is saying something. The key to the brilliance of this wine is the texture. The tannins. They are tightly woven, very fine and serve to support the fruit and the acid. This wine is built on a stable scaffold of tannin that both cushions the experience and defines it. What a wine."  Erin Larkin

"An outstanding vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon in Margaret River. A concentrated and dark nose displaying dense blackcurrants and dark cherries. Heightened floral notes of violets and bay leaf diligently combine with savoury spice notes of black cardamom, anise, clove and cumin. There is an evident undernote of graphite and flint, providing a very detailed nose. Intensity and density pairs with purity and elegance. Predominately a blackcurrant thread on the palate, there is so much offering in layers. Bold, rich and contoured primary fruits engage with bright, almost mineral acidity, contoured with olive tapenade, iodine and sage. The tannins are silky, finely polishing the shape and finish on the palate.

After individual berry sorting and cold soaking, fermentation took place in closed, static fermenters at temperatures between 26C-30C with extraction by pumping over each individual parcel three times daily. After malolactic fermentation entirely in barrels and 9 months of barrel maturation, separate parcels were blended for further maturation in French Bordelaise coopered barriques with seasonal rackings.  This wine spent 22 months in total in oak."  Leeuwin Estate

Expert reviews

"Deep crimson. Classical blackcurrant cedar aromas with lifted espresso, roasted chestnut notes. Inky deep and beautifully concentrated wine with dense blackcurrant, dark plum, dark chocolate flavours, fine grainy/chocolaty tannins and perfectly integrated cedar oak. A superb grainy firm finish and mineral length. A great Leeuwin Estate Cabernet. Now-2040."  Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal - 99 points

"This was a freak vintage in the hands of many winemakers in WA, capable of power, balance, ripeness and glory. This has pomegranate, red licorice and peppered raspberry. The fruit flavours, while slinky and seductive, are not the major player here. And that is saying something. The key to the brilliance of this wine, like the '14, the '10 and to some extent the '05 before it, is the texture. The tannins. They are tightly woven, very fine and serve to support the fruit and the acid. This wine is built on a stable scaffold of tannin that both cushions the experience and defines it. What a wine. Drink by 2042."  Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion - 97 points and Special Value Wine  ★ 

"One of the last wines released from the great 2018 Margaret River vintage, this has to be one of the finest cabernets yet from Leeuwin. Supremely balanced and poised with stylish lines through to a very long finish. Scented aromas of cedar and leafy blackcurrant with a trace of oyster shell. The palate is quite brilliant with the distinct chalky tannins and super fine grained oak holding the fruit gently to its extended finish. Great wine here. Drink: 2022 - 2040."  Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot - 97 points

"Leeuwin Estate is for me one of the most Bordeaux like of Margaret River’s top line cabernets with its vineyard location at the southern end of the region helping to produce savoury wine styles. It can be a challenge in cooler vintages but when the vintage gods are kind, it is a recipe for something very special, as we have here. Deep crimson, it opens up with understated, but enthralling aromas of red currant, blackcurrant, woody asparagus stems, cedar and cassis with a solid backbone of new oak. There is then great density of fruit to the palate, again not bold but reserved and full of energy; a young, tight ball of vibrant, stylish and youthful flavours exceptionally well balanced with manicured tannins which support an incredibly long, elegant finish. Super impressive and a new benchmark for this label. Drink: 2026 - 2040."  Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot - 97 points

"Those who have been enjoying Leeuwin Estate wines for a good few years will know that there was a time when their reds were seen as very much second fiddle to their legendary Chardonnay. Those days are long gone and their Cabernet now sits alongside the region’s very best and, in comparison to some, represents excellent value. This wine is ripe and intense with notes of blackberries, chocolate, tobacco leaf, cassis, leather and superbly integrated oak. Seamless, with a very long palate on which the intensity is maintained throughout, it finishes with carefully managed tannins, which are both silky and slightly gravelly at the same time. Will easily impress for the next ten to twenty years. Drink: 2022-2042."  Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot - 96 points

"From the producer of Australia's greatest Chardonnay comes a Cabernet that certainly pitches its case to be standing on the podium too. All class, this is something. Wonderfully handled, black fruits just purr. Silky fruit is framed by some mint, dried herbs and expected bay leaf. There is great width through the mouth as the fruit shimmers in its own glow. Super fine tannins are brushed through the mouth precisely leading to a long and delicately persistent finish. A fantastic Cabernet hands down."  Steve Leszczynski, Qwine - 95 points

"A complex and layered nose of blackcurrants, fresh mint, pine cone and red licorice. Medium- to full-bodied with fine, structured tannins. Succulent and well constructed with a solid core of black fruit. Leafy herbs and black tea character add welcome depth. Delicious. So attractive right now but will age wonderfully. 97% cabernet sauvignon and 3% malbec. Drink or hold."  James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com - 95 points

"Elegant, medium-bodied, with cardamom and dried herb hints to the bitter chocolate-edged blackcurrant fruit, with suggestions of riper cassis. Lovely freshness, showing ripe but present fine-grained tannins in this outstanding Margaret River Cabernet vintage. Classy and controlled. Bordelaise-coopered French oak barriques discreetly buff and extend the fruit on a tapered finish, with cigar box and cedar resonance to the back palate."  Sarah Ahmed, Decanter – 95 points

"Lashings of lead pencil shavings and a blackberry compote lead into a juicy buxom core. Flavours of fresh leather and smoked meats temper the darker fruits, adding complexity. The tannins are chewy yet fine adding dimension and a minerally twist. This has a long life ahead."  Gabrielle Poy, The Real Review - 95 points

"Dense, nutty, a bit minty too, tight and controlled, with blueberry and cassia bark perfume. Silty smooth tannin, texture is a highlight, a distinct ‘mineral’ sort of character, something of a hazelnut toffee flavour, mid-weight and sure-footed, such a wonderful nutty chew to it, red and black fruits and a long persuasively tannic finish. Excellent. Drink: 2023 - 2034."  Gary Walsh, The Wine Front - 95 points 

Awards

Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 

The winery

In 1969, Denis and Tricia Horgan purchased a farm and plumbing business in Margaret River that they would eventually transform into Leeuwin Estate, one of Australia's most iconic wineries. At the time they had little interest in wine or plumbing (they sold the business), but in 1972 they met legendary Napa Valley winemaker, Robert Mondavi, who wanted to purchase their farm to plant vineyards. The farm was not for sale, but with Mondavi acting as consultant and mentor, they planted vineyards with the dream of becoming a world-class producer of premium wine.

A nursery was planted in 1974, the vineyards were planted over a five-year period from 1975 and Leeuwin released its first commercial vintage in 1979. The Leeuwin Estate vineyards are planted to Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz, but it is the Chardonnay and to a lesser extent the Cabernet that are the stars of the portfolio. Langton's classifies Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay as 'Exceptional' and one of the Heritage Five which celebrates Australia's most iconic, exceptional and ground-breaking wines - the other four are Penfolds Grange, Henschke Hill of Grace, Mount Mary Quintet and Wendouree Shiraz.

Leeuwin Estate releases its wines under three labels, the Art Series, Prelude Vineyards and Siblings. The Art Series range was created in 1980 and features Australian artwork on the labels.

Denis and Tricia Horgan continue their involvement in Leeuwin Estate, but today it is their two eldest children, son Justin Horgan and daughter Simone Furlong, who run the business as joint chief executives. 

"I fell into the wine industry because Mondavi wanted to buy the land; I thank God that we didn't sell."  Denis Horgan

Art series labels

The Art Series range was created in 1980 and features Australian artwork on the labels.

"I had developed an interest in Australian art in the early days. During a trip to Europe I was invited to meet Baroness Philippine de Rothschild at the Chateau Mouton-Rothschild wine estate in Bordeaux. The winemaker showed me around the winery and art gallery before having lunch with the Baroness.

I was so impressed with the way art had been integrated into the business that I asked Baroness Philippine if she would mind if we used Australian Artwork on our labels. She thought that was a great idea and said, "Go ahead".

So we created the 'Art Series' range in 1980 to define our most opulent and age-worthy wines from each vintage.  The first label carried a painting of our region's famous 'Caves Road' by Robert Juniper. We now have over 150 paintings from Australia's leading contemporary artists in our collection. We display the original artworks in the winery art gallery."  Denis Horgan

The collection now comprises over 150 paintings and features artworks from artists including John Olsen, Arthur Boyd, Sir Sidney Nolan, Lloyd Rees, Albert Tucker, Fred Williams, Robert Juniper, Clifton Pugh and Imants Tillers. The only work not part of the Estate's own collection is Sir Arthur Streeton's Golden Summer, which was kindly offered by its then owner for use on a special Museum Release of the 1987 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon before moving to its new home at the National Gallery.

Many of the paintings and sculptures were specifically commissioned. Others were discovered in exhibitions around Australia and the artists approached for copyright permission to be reproduced as part of the label series. The first painting commissioned was of Caves Road by Robert Juniper for the 1980 Art Series Chardonnay. John Olsen was approached to paint the first artwork to be used on the Art Series Riesling. He responded with the creation of four works entitled 'Frogs in Riesling'. These paintings were so irresistible that the decision was made to purchase all four and all have been used, in a random pattern, on Art Series Riesling labels ever since. This makes the Riesling unique, as for the labels of all other wines, a new work is commissioned each year.

Sir Sidney Nolan, when approached at the beginning of the series, advised he was not a graphic artist and did not paint for wine labels. He was also a red wine buff and was sent two unlabelled bottles of the 1982 Cabernet Sauvignon – one of Leeuwin's best vintages. He responded that for this wine he would happily provide a painting. This resulted in his Dolphin Rock appearing on the label.

With the high calibre of the artists consenting to appear on the labels, it is no longer a challenge convincing leading artists to be part of this collection. Eventually, as the collection builds, it is hoped to tour it in its own right. Some works have been lent from time to time but most are on display in the Leeuwin Estate Art Gallery.

The concerts

"As one of the world's most isolated wine regions, we wanted to be creative in generating reasons for visitors to come and discover Margaret River and our wines.

Our winery overlooks a meadow surrounded by a forest of tall karri trees, creating a beautiful natural amphitheatre. So in 1985 we wrote to the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the local Ballet Company and the Opera Company inviting them to consider coming down and doing a concert. The idea of alfresco performances in the bush was extremely novel at the time and we didn't get much interest from any of them.

The then Director of The Festival of Perth, David Blenkinsopp, approached us about that time, asking if we would underwrite the visit to Australia of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, something that somewhat shocked us at the time, huge costs, logistics and all of that – no was the answer, unless they would be prepared to perform in our vineyard.

He went off to London to organise the tour and said he'd talk to the LPO and let me know. To my surprise he came back and said they'd love to perform at Leeuwin, as long as we underwrote the whole Australian tour. Trish thought I was mad, in fact everybody I know thought I was mad, but I said yes!

Funnily enough it was a bit like the wine, we didn't know that much about music and certainly nothing about being concert promoters, however we thought the London Philharmonic Orchestra was a pretty good 'band' to start our concerts with! They really might be worth the risk and we needed to generate a profile for our wine business in a creative way.

So 100+ members of The London Philharmonic Orchestra travelled all the way to Margaret River, we built a stage, did some creative things entertainment wise and all had a fantastic night. The concert was a sell-out; we even had to turn away 500. It made front page news, described as “The most extraordinary concert ever held in Australia."

Our wines were successfully launched nationally at functions held off the back of the concerts throughout Australia – it proved to be a highly successful promotion.

The impact of that first concert guaranteed the future success of our concerts. Whilst it cost a fortune in our underwriting of the total Australian tour it was a highly successful launch pad to promote Leeuwin Estate to all the right people at home and Eastern Australia.

That first Leeuwin Concert was so successful that we continued the relationship with the Festival of Perth for another two years, featuring other international orchestras. Then we thought that we needed to do something different and presented Ray Charles. The new format proved to be even more successful so we decided to stick to that format for a while – 32 years later we have presented an eclectic array of the world's leading musicians at Leeuwin, from Sting to James Taylor, Carole King and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa."  Denis Horgan

Text taken from Milton Wordley's article 'People of Wine', https://winetenquestions.com.au/