2014 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay

Powerful yet refined and vibrant with an exceptionally long finish.

Brilliant very pale straw colour with a light greenish tinge around the outskirts and a watery hue. Intense fleshy white peach and nectarine aromas are overlaid by subtle smoky gun flint like characters with nuances of dried honey, cashew, biscuity oak, citrusy nougat and spice ensuing. There’s light, fresh feel across the palate but the fruit shows terrific intensity as well as finesse. Rich mouthfilling flavours of white peaches and ripe nectarines decorate the front palate with complexing nuances of smoky gun flint infusions, biscuit, cashew, subtle dried honey and citrusy nougat also chiming in on the back palate. Finishes with a lick of spice and vibrant, perfectly balanced acidity. Magnificent length with a power wave that builds incrementally across the palate and persists long into the exceptionally lengthy aftertaste of white peaches, nectarines, smoky gun flint infusions, dried honey, biscuity oak and spicy nougat. Outstanding.
Alc 13.5%

Other Reviews......
Part hand, part machine-picked, part wild and part cultured yeast, matured for 11 months in new French oak. Incredibly youthful quartz-green colour; a great chardonnay, its intensity and length right up there with the best prior vintages; white peach and nectarine open the batting, pink grapefruit coming swiftly thereafter, creamy/nutty oak almost lost in the crowd. If this weren't enough, the aftertaste is a work of art, complete in itself. Drink by 2029.
98 points
James Halliday - Australian Wine Companion