Art Series Chardonnay

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2003 Art Series Chardonnay

Winemaker's Tasting Notes

The colour is bright straw with lime green hues.

The fresh nose is typical Leeuwin, with lifted aromas of dried pear and ripe peach accompanied by hints of cashews and integrated French oak. These flavours combine into a finely balanced bouquet; the result of very low yielding vines matched with subtle winemaking to preserve the richness of the fruit.

The palate displays the mouth filling and intense flavours of dried pears with the middle palate showing richness from both the fruit and the lees stirring. The length, always a feature of Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay, is long and full flavoured with a lingering fresh citrus finish.

The new French oak complements the fruit providing a wonderful balance of warm toasty flavours on the finish.

Comments

"An Australian wine from the Margaret River. The sea brings in a breeze, which is far more suitable for Chardonnay. A typically antipodean wine with oak and ripened fruit."

"A classic Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay whose perfectly focused citrus, stonefruit and tropical fruit qualities are interwoven with tightly knit oak and crystalline acidity. There's a suggestion of lemon tart, cloves, vanilla and mineral beneath its penetrative aromas of grapefruit, peach and lemon butter. Exceptionally long and pronounced, it's taut and persistent palate knits pristine layers of pineapple, banana, lemon and grapefruit with the purest, brightest acidity. Exemplary." 97 points

"Rich, ripe and seamless, not quite as dense as some vintages, but it has real elegance. It plays its citrusy pineapple, guava, pear and spice flavors over a polished frame, letting them linger effortlessly. This could gain greater depth with age. 94 points."

"Art Series is the most reliable benchmark Chardonnay in Australia. Despite it's class and breeding it is still a wonderfully gracious host. The 2003 is packed with jaw-dropping texture and cashew nut complexity supporting it's fine white peach and spicy nectarine fruit. The length and intensity of the wine are unimaginable, but it's utterly poised and drinking perfectly right now and over the next year. A totally worthy top shelf Aussie Chardonnay and we're told that the 2004 might be even better. Decant if you have to, and bathe in it's glory."

"Richer, deeper and fuller than most Art Series at this stage of its development; ripe stone fruit and melon fruit. Two bottles tasted; the second slightly tighter and racier than the other. Will develop more quickly than most." Cork. 14% alc. Rating 94. Drink 2010.

"If you love Chardonnay, you owe it to yourself to discover why this amazingly complex wine ranks among the world's best. Its minerality is reminiscent of great Burgundy but is complemented with opulent, ripe fruit flavors. Founded by Denis and Tricia Horgan in the late 1970s, Leeuwin is the flagship winery of Western Australia. 97"

"There is just so much happening in this extraordinary chardonnay that continues to push new boundaries of excellence. The aroma is immediately complex and compelling with grapefruit, nutty nuances and mealy cashew characters. The palate is as powerful as ever with deep penetrating and powerful flavours that define complexity in chardonnay. The driest vintage on record in Margaret River has produced a wine of phenomenal power and finesse that will live for many years. Buy it, put it away and forget about it for at least another five years."

Drink: 2009 to 2015 Value: 4

"4 1/2 stars - very nice wine, due here in late June, with butterscotch and toasty underpinnings; bring your American Express Black Card; $79"

"Green-gold colour. Dense, almost brooding on the nose initially, but unfolds quickly to show fresh pear, white peach, minerals and a suggestion of white pepper. An intense floral note grabs the palate along with flavours of pear skin, apple eau de vie and cinnamon. This has superb heft and a rich, chewy texture, and finishes with powerful mineral and pit fruit flavors that carry endlessly. Another great example of this Australian icon wine. It may not be the equal of the Supernal 2002, but then not many chardonnays are." 92 points

"The classic 2003 Chardonnay Art Series was aged in 100% new French oak for 18 months, but you would never know that. It boasts a layered, white peach and honeyed citrus bouquet intermixed with subtle background wood smoke. Medium to full-bodied with excellent acidity, minerality, and structure, this beauty will be even better with another 1-2 years of bottle age. It should last for 6-7+ years. 93 points."

"Part of this vintage was sealed with corks (and showed significant variation), part with screwcaps. This entry is for the wine with the latter closure, gloriously tight and racy, with a fusion of stone fruit, melon and minerally acidity so complete you barely notice the French oak in which it was fermented."

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