Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2015

Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2018 

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."  James Halliday

"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."  Ray Jordan

"Classical pear skin, lime and white peach fruit spectrum defines the nose, amidst sweeter notes of nougat, sesame brittle and brioche. It is concentrated and complex with subtle fragrant jasmine and savoury flint and wet stone.

A tightly directed palate, yet with enviable length. Woven layers of lemon curd, cut lime and grapefruit pith penetrate throughout the palate with a distinctive mineral thread. Delicate oak use presents gentle complexing notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and hazelnuts."  Leeuwin Estate

Expert reviews

"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."  Ray Jordan, The West Australian - 99 points

"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."  Brendan Jansen MW, Fine Wine Club (Vertical Tasting 2000 – 2016 vintage, Tasted May 2019)

"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."  Ned Goodwin, Halliday Wine Companion – 96 points

"Light to medium, bright yellow colour, very young for its age. The bouquet is shy but pleasantly nutty, showing some oak; the palate has bracing acidity and concentrated flavour, which is still latent and promising more in time. There's a slight dip in the mid-palate. The wine is still remarkably young and has a great career in front of it. Screwcap 14.0% alc. Drink: 2019 to 2030."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 96 points

"Pear, honey biscuits, some lime, aniseed, and firm cedar and spice oak, though it's not overdone. Full-bodied, glossy texture, some white flower perfume in with pear and melon, ripe lime acidity and flavour, toasty wood in the mix, and a very long powerful finish, dusted with fine oak tannin and citrus zest. Kind of emphatic in style, but potent too, and while that's true enough, I'd also say that this wine is becoming more refined and stylish, and the drinkability is on the rise too. Anyway, it's a very good release. Drink: 2019-2030+."  Gary Walsh, The Wine Front - 96 points

"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."  Decanter - 96 points

"This vintage weaves its way through aromas of lemon verbena, grapefruit rind, sea spray and cashew that move to a palate that is precise and textural. Flavors of citrus, nuts and seashell radiate, boosted by crackling acidity and an endlessly long, lemony finish."  Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast – 96 points and Editor's choice

"Supple and creamy up front, with precision to the nutmeg, lemon curd, verbena and mandarin orange flavors, which are intense and harmonious. The elegant body and lingering accents of ginger and citrus zest elevate this white to something special."  MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator - 95 points and Top 100 Wines of 2018

Awards

Top 100 Wines of 2018 - Wine Spectator

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/