2018 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon

Best known for producing arguably Australia’s greatest Chardonnay, Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon has demonstrated over recent vintages that it can match it with best of the region and comparatively still remains under priced when compared to other Margaret River heavy weights such as Cullen & Moss Wood.
Predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with a 3% Malbec component also included in the blend, this wine was matured in French oak (50% new) for a period of 22 months. Magnificent inky black heart with a deep dark red black tinged hue. Heavenly violet, blackcurrant, mulberry and pencily vanillin cedar aromas sail out of the glass trailed by tobacco, subtle spicy black olive and bay leaf notes. Rich and expansive the medium to full bodied palate is laden with red to black currant and mulberry fruits which meld into a vanillin cedar, spicy tobacco, light earth and bay leaf infused back drop. Powerful and handsomely built with refined yet sturdy tannins and perfectly poised acidity it finishes long, complex and distinguished.
Cellar 10-15 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews…..
This was a freak vintage in the hands of many winemakers in WA, capable of power, balance, ripeness and glory. This has pomegranate, red licorice and peppered raspberry. The fruit flavours, while slinky and seductive, are not the major player here. And that is saying something. The key to the brilliance of this wine, like the '14, the '10 and to some extent the '05 before it, is the texture. The tannins. They are tightly woven, very fine and serve to support the fruit and the acid. This wine is built on a stable scaffold of tannin that both cushions the experience and defines it. What a wine. Drink by 2042.
97 points
Erin Larkin - James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion

One of the last wines released from the great 2018 Margaret River vintage, this has to be one of the finest cabernets yet from Leeuwin. Supremely balanced and poised with stylish lines through to a very long finish. Scented aromas of cedar and leafy blackcurrant with a trace of oyster shell. The palate is quite brilliant with the distinct chalky tannins and super fine grained oak holding the fruit gently to its extended finish. Great wine here.
97 points
Ray Jordan - WinePilot.com

Leeuwin Estate is for me one of the most Bordeaux like of Margaret River’s top line cabernets with its vineyard location at the southern end of the region helping to produce savoury wine styles. It can be a challenge in cooler vintages but when the vintage gods are kind, it is a recipe for something very special, as we have here. Deep crimson, it opens up with understated, but enthralling aromas of red currant, blackcurrant, woody asparagus stems, cedar and cassis with a solid backbone of new oak. There is then great density of fruit to the palate, again not bold but reserved and full of energy; a young, tight ball of vibrant, stylish and youthful flavours exceptionally well balanced with manicured tannins which support an incredibly long, elegant finish. Super impressive and a new benchmark for this label.
97 points
Angus Hughson - WinePilot.com