I have been anxious to try this wine for some time as I have heard good things about it. I am not a big chardonnay fan ever since Mer Soleil started to seem too rich and buttery for my tastes. I think my taste in wine has evolved more than anything.
This wine was served slightly chilled in serviceable Chardonnay glasses. Pale yellow in color, it had very nice aromas of toast, lemon and hazelnut. The first flavors on the tongue were familiar Chardonnay with butter and some oak...but wait...then came some mineral components with citrus fruits and following close after were toasted hazelnut and honey! Wow...now this is a wonderful Chardonnay! The complexity was wonderful! No sooner did my mind start to identify what my taste buds were experiencing then the nuances changed. I especially liked the gravelly mineral components on the mid-palate. I wonder about the ageability of this wine. I bet it will last 5-7 years and still be quite good. I would still not call myself a big Chard fan, but I have a couple more bottles of this that I will really look forward to and I would give it 95 points without hesitation.

The modest water, awed by power divine, beheld its God and blushed into wine. - John Dryden

I think Leeuwin is doing some amazing things with the Chardonnay grape right now. I know Jones rated the '98 recently and he thought he would age nicely. If you do not mind me asking what does this wine cost in your neck of the woods?

IW

Life without wine?...... Yeah Right.<br /><br />I believe we have 2 lives; the life we learn with and the life we live with after that.

Funny you posted that TN, I have wanted to taste that wine for a number of years, but have never had the chance. Sounds very Solid. Thanks


Cheers

IW
I think that I got this for about $65. That is definitely more than I will pay for a bottle of Chardonnay on any regular basis but, like Prideman, I have been wanting to try this for a while.

The modest water, awed by power divine, beheld its God and blushed into wine. - John Dryden

Just FYI guys,
Before WS gave this 95 points, it was available on winebid.com. I won 4 @$35 each.

Lucky me.

Wine Library wants $70 per for it (less 20% if you buy a mixed case).

I can't afford it, but I buy it anyway.

I'd like to see more of this winery's products here in Louisville (or anywhere, for that matter!). Recently had the '99 'Siblings' Margaret River, a 60/40 blend of SB and Semillon that was very tasty indeed, and @ $26 (restaurant) quite nicely priced, too.

...hey, chief - you gonna finish that bottle?

The better vintages of Leeuwin Estart Art Series chardonay are known to live over 20 years. The last 2 better vintages have been '97 and '99.

Leeuwin Estate also have another chardonnay, I forget it's exact name, which sells for about 1/3 of the price of the Art series. I personally rate it about 2-3 points behind the Art series and without the long term cellar potential, excellent QPR.

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Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do

Pauly,

I think you are referring to “Prelude”.

The next best Chardonnay you can get from down under for daily drinking.....now.

Thanks for that nobody. I have a mind like a steel thingy when it comes to names.

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Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do

Kybo,

Horizon is the local distributor for the Leeuwin products. I spoke with one of their sales people a couple days ago. He said if you want to special order some of their wines I am sure I can work something out with the store I met him at. He said the retail price of the SB blend that you had at JRB would be about $18. He said he has all of the Artist Series in stock except the chardonnay. He has the cab and the shiraz. Maybe we can share a mixed case or two of the SB, Shiraz, and Cab.

IW

Life without wine?...... Yeah Right.<br /><br />I believe we have 2 lives; the life we learn with and the life we live with after that.

Italian Wino,

Leeuwin's cabs (the Art Series) are very underated. They are well structured, complex, with surprisingly soft tannins. I tried the 97 on two occasions and would rate it easily around 91 to 93 pts. If it has already been released, jump on the 99 as it should prove to be exceptional.

Keep a close eye on Margaret River cabs. Producers such as Cullen and Moss Wood, just to name a few, are putting out world class reds.

Cheers,

Raisin,

Is $US35 a good price for the Cab? I will look into it and find out what vintage the local distributor is carrying.

IW

Life without wine?...... Yeah Right.<br /><br />I believe we have 2 lives; the life we learn with and the life we live with after that.

Italian Wino,

At $35.00us for any Art Series cab you are getting a very good price. I don't think the 98 or 99 are out yet, but at $35.00 the 97 is clearly a buy. Two to three hours of decanting should be enough to make it shine.

Cheers,