Read the Decanter expert's tasting note and drinking window for Leeuwin Estate, Art Series Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia 2012.

Leeuwin Estate, Art Series Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia 2012

Honeyed melon and butter aromas. Big and bold with refined acidity and a creamy texture. Voluptuous, complex, pure.

Tasters Peter Richards MW, Sarah Jane Evans MW and Xavier Rousset MS

Alc 14%

Price UK £60-65 Oz Wines, Slurp, US $70-$100 Los Angeles Wine Co (CA), Grapes Wine (NY)*

*US stockists found on wine-searcher.com

Producer:
Leeuwin Estate

Leeuwin Estate was founded by Denis and Tricia Horgan in 1969  and is located in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. In 1973, Denis met an American who was also interested in buying land in the area, ‘to produce high quality varietal wine’. The name meant nothing to Horgan at the time, but the American man was Robert Mondavi, the late ‘Grand Old Man’ of American wine. Their partnership lasted until 1983.

Horgan’s instinct about his land proved correct: the first vines he planted included the Chardonnay patch known as Block 20 – his ‘golden acre’ (1.8 hectares) – which still produces the grapes that form the backbone of the Art Series Chardonnay. This wine is regularly named as one of Australia’s best Chardonnays.