Leeuwin Estate, Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River 2018

Leeuwin Estate, one of the founding wineries in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, is a family producer with an international reputation for creating wines ranking alongside the world’s finest. In 1972, legendary Napa Valley winemaker, Robert Mondavi, identified the future site of the Leeuwin vineyard as being ideal for the production of premium wine and provided early mentorship to Denis and Tricia Horgan in the transformation of their cattle farm into Leeuwin Estate. Enjoying its first commercial vintage in 1979, Leeuwin Estate was thrust into the global wine spotlight when Decanter Magazine highly recommended the 1981 “Art Series” Chardonnay after an international blind tasting. Celebrating the art of fine wine, the Estate’s most opulent and age worthy wines, the “Art Series’ are identified with paintings from Australia’s leading contemporary artists on the labels.

Blackcurrants and dark cherries dominate the nose, alongside anise, clove, cardamom, and bay leaf. The wine is highly lifted and perfumed with lavender and basil flowers on show. Drive, direction and line form the shape and frame of the palate. Dark forest fruits surround cedar, olives, and graphite. There is distinct minerality threaded within, leading to a fine finish, with length and complexity delivered by ripe, silky tannins.