2023 Leeuwin Estate, Art Series Chardonnay, Margaret River

Many of the wines produced in the region this season can be typified by their nuttiness and a distinct chamomile tea/white flower character. Here, the 2022 Art Series Chardonnay is showing both of those characters, neatly wedged into the authoritative profile of Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay. Today, for perhaps the first time ever in seeing these wines on release, I note that the oak is a key player in the drinking experience—as ever, seamlessly matched to the fruit and an important part of the wine's style and evident here today. There are toasted nuts, yellow fruits, exotic spices and an open fan of acidity/phenolics through the finish. This 2022 will prove to be a powerful and statuesque player in the wider footprint of Art Series Chardonnays. It's one to collect, but for drinking in the short/immediate term, decanting is recommended. - Erin Larkin

2023 was a long, dry, mild season in Margaret River (certainly in the context of white wine), although there was some rain at the end of the season that, depending on the location of the vineyard, caused some challenges for some producers. From my viewpoint up in Perth (some 276 kilometers north), the season seemed to roll out in a most restrained fashion. I have been very excited to try the premium white from this season and indelibly curious about the premium reds. Tasted as a barrel sample in January 2024, this 2023 Art Series Chardonnay is inchoate at this stage, but it shows all the finesse and precision of the year that I was expecting. At this point, it is floral and waxy and defined very much by lashings of aromatic pear in every way you like it: poached, baked or fresh cut. There's loads of time before this wine will be ready for release, but I feel we will be in for a treat. The wine will be bottled and sealed with a screw cap in July or August 2024 and released in March 2025.