Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay 2022

Our love of Burgundy is strong and obvious, but sometimes you need to give credit to the home-grown producers making Chardonnay on a level that is on par with some of the best in France. In September we opened a bottle of Leeuwin ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay 2022 alongside a bottle of Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint Aubin 2023. The bottles were masked to remove any bias. Both wines were fabulous drinks, perhaps with more similarities than differences. On the evening though, the Leeuwin had the edge, with more cut of acidity and more vitality through the mid-palate which brough waves of stone fruit flavour with real concentration and intensity. A fantastic Chardonnay by anyone’s measure. – Ches Cook, Five Way Cellars.

This seems, at least to me, to hark back to what might be called a more ‘old school’ classic LEAS style. And that will make many people very happy, no doubt. Pear, grapefruit, Teddy Bear biscuits, cedar, vanilla, clove and ginger oak laying it on pretty thick, though the fruit power is there to take it. It’s juicy, honey drizzled pear, citrus, a firm chalk dust grip, with a lively grapefruit cut of acidity, some lime and lime rind richness here too, with a bold and savoury finish of excellent length. It’s wine of power and presence, and some warmth, not immediately approachable, but very good. 95 points. - Gary Walsh, Wine Front.