5 Star Winery - Halliday Wine Companion
Best Australian Chardonnay of the Year 2018, Halliday Wine Companion - Art Series Chardonnay 2014
"Exceptional" (Art Series Chardonnay); "Excellent" (Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon) - Langton's Fine Wine Classification IV

"Family owned, Leeuwin Estate, one of the five founding wineries of the now famous Margaret River district of Western Australia, is under the direction of two generations who work with a team of highly skilled winemakers to consistently produce 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 was thrust into the international spotlight when Decanter Magazine gave its highest recommendation to the 1980 "Art Series" Chardonnay. The international accolades have continued and Leeuwin now exports to 30 markets." - Leeuwin Estate

"Leeuwin Estate is a class act, every facet of its business working with the precision of a Swiss watch. It stands at the very forefront of estate-based, family owned wineries...

Leeuwin Estate's Chardonnay is, in my opinion, Australia's finest example, based on the wines of the last 20-odd vintages, and it is this wine alone that demands a 5-star rating for the winery. The Cabernet Sauvignon can be an excellent wine with great style and character in warmer vintages, and Shiraz made an auspicious debut..." - James Halliday

When Penfolds began to create a white wine of the stature and image of Grange, several people asked why they didn't just buy Leeuwin Estate. Arguably Australia's leading white wine, Leeuwin's chardonnay is an explosive mouthful of concentrated, creamy Margaret River chardonnay enhanced with excellent oak. It's our best cellaring chardonnay as well. - Jeremy Oliver

Purchased by Trish and Denis Horgan, Leeuwin Estate lies just south of the Margaret River township. The Art Series Block 20 vineyard lies on deeply weathered and laterised soils with rocky outcrops of gneiss and ironstone gravels. Pristine Chardonnay fruit characters are preserved throughout vinification. The wine is 100% barrel fermented in selected new French oak and matured in the same barrel for approximately 12 months. These are rare, long-lived, fine-boned Chardonnays with superb fruit definition and clarity. They show a balance between exuberant fruit and savoury complexity. The palate is creamy yet a fine bead of acid cuts a swathe across the palate giving life and incredible length. It develops beautifully with grapefruit/melon aromas and complex lanolin nuances. - Andrew Caillard MW

Notwithstanding the challanges of Yattarna, giaconda, Petaluma Tiers and so forth, Leeuwin is my choice as Australia's best Chardonnay. - James Halliday