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2007 Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay

Winemaker's Tasting Notes

The colour is vibrant straw with green edges.

The nose has characteristic Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay aromas and intensity, showing ripe pears, cashew nuts, creme brulee and hints of toasty French oak. The palate displays the typical sweet fruit from Leeuwin's low cropping vineyards of dried pear, toasty creamy custard tart and nutty nuances of almond and cashew, with lingering stone fruit and a fresh clean acid finish.

As with all Leeuwin Estate Chardonnays, the wine will benefit from some time in the bottle as the flavours slowly evolve. This is a very exhilarating wine with great balance from a superior Chardonnay vintage, with the potential to benefit from at least 5 years cellaring.

Comments

"A not-so-junior brother to the Art Series; while the vineyard block sources are different, this is a seriously elegant wine, marrying intensity and finesse on a notably long palate. Screwcap. 14% alc. Rating 94 To 2015"
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion, 2010 Edition
"95 points - This is the chardonnay to which i now compare all others at this price. With its gorgeous, lush, green fruits, delightful exotic flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg and biscuits, its beautifully textured back palate and a finish that builds in flavour, this is a true prelude to the Art Series."
Tyson Stelzer, WBM 100, December 2008
"Quite a restrained chardie with a delicate precision on the palate. Has slightly creamy, melon aromas with a trace of citrus. The palate builds in richness, showing gentle roasted flavours under a light melon nuance."
Ray Jordan, The West Australian, November 20, 2008
"88 points - Quite a delicate, restrained chardie with a delicate precision on the palate. Has slightly creamy, melon aromas with a trace of citrus. The palate builds in richness, showing gentle roasted flavours under a light melon nuance."
The West Australian, Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan's WA Wine Guide 2009
"This wine has all sorts of flavours that we've been missing in our Chardonnay flight. It has a faint Norwegian wood smoke aroma, not that either of us have sauna-ed naked with the girl's Nordic ski team on maneuvers. But imagine tromping through the snow and catching a whiff of a just lit cooking fire in the distance. Now forget that, and concentrate on the sauna! This is a true prelude to the Art Series."
Matthew Jukes and Tyson Stelzer, Taste Food & Wine 2009
“91 points - Restrained nose and measured fruit aromas, quite primary and pure, with some gentle flinty peach and grapefruit characters showing through on the palate. Sparkling clarity and evenness, good drive and lingering richness. Drink now.”
Wine100, Nick Stock & Tyson Stelzer, May 2009
"The oak is quite pronounced and forward here from the first pour. However together with the fullsome and stylish fruit that accompanies it, this turns into an overall robust and classy Chardonnay with ripe peach melon, cashews, double cream and a touch of honeysuckle and an overall lusciousness and deliciousness, that I enjoy and enjoy drinking. The acidity that provides the structure to the wine is also lively and fresh and offsets the oak neatly. The fruit does end up playing the dominant force here and will continue to evolve with a few years of age into a smoother softer more supple Chardonnay. Until then, try a glass or two with a seafood platter. Drink To 2011."
www.paulippolito.com.au, May 2009
"90 points - Greenish yellow. Spicy pear and lime on the nose, with suave basil and floral honey qualities adding complexity. Sappy, round orchard and citrus fruit flavors pack good punch and pick up gentle lees and toasted grain notes with air. A spicy quality adds energy to the long, juicy finish."
Josh Raynold, New Releases from Australia Report, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, July 2009
"92 points - This is a fresh, clean coastal white to pour at a clambake on Martha's Vineyard, or with grilled marron in Margaret River. The flavors are rich and opulent-butter cream and tropical fruit-without feeling weighty or heavily oaked (it's aged nine months in new French oak). Instead it's tight and slightly floral."
Wine & Spirits, October 2009
"90 points - Open-textured, polished and generous with its white peach-scented pear and green pineapple flavors, lingering gently but persistently. Drink through to 2015"
Wine Spectator, 30 November 2009
"90 points - Open-textured, polished and generous with its white peach-scented pear and green pineapple flavors, lingering gently but persistently." Drink now through 2015.
Wine Spectator, November 30 Edition 2009
"The Chardonnay grapes were picked at night and down to preserve the delicate flavours, and were then cool crushed with some skin contact. The must was fermented and matured in French oak barriques (30% new), with regular lees stirring for nine months. Malolactic fermentation was avoided."
The Drinks Business, January 2010
"Leeuwin's most recent Prelude Vlneyard Chardonnay has noticeable but not overbearing butterscotch, cool melon notes and pineapple. The palate is broad, laden with succulent New World fruit, bolstered by a pleasing smokiness and minerality."
Decanter, January 2010
"This wine is a good value series from a top Western Australian winery. It has a pale straw color with a tinge of green, clean and slightly grassy aromas. This isn't a huge wine, more a subtle style of Chardonnay, with more pear than apple, slightly peppery on the palate and a hint of grapefruit. Drink this almost at any time with most foods; Asian seafood suits it very well."
Charles Blair, E&W Jan 2010
"90 points - This has a very attractive green bean, punchy edge to the fruit, with some background of green fig and smokiness. On the palate this has a beautiful balance and a really tight, lemony, beautifully focused fruit and the core of acidity slices through the slightly creamier, leesy notes of the finish."
Tom Cannavan, www.wine-pages.com, 2010

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