When Australia’s greatest Chardonnay meets one of Margaret River’s greatest vintages….
“…Leeuwin Art Series is Australia’s greatest chardonnay.”
— James Halliday
The 2023 Margaret River Chardonnay vintage has been awarded 5+/5
“A ‘perfect’ year for Chardonnay”
“unanimously considered to be one of the greatest vintages of the past decade.”
- Cassandra Charlick, Decanter
To celebrate the release of the 2023 Art Series Chardonnay and honour the legacy of the Art Series, each event features a five-vintage vertical:
2023 (Launch) | 2020 | 2018 | 2016 | 2015
This is a rare opportunity to taste the evolution of one of Australia’s most revered wineries - in a year already spoken of as historic.
Hosted by Justin Horgan,
Joint Chief Executive Officer & Third Generation
Sunday, March 29th
Lunch: 12-3pm | 13 Wines and 5 Courses | $250.00
Masterclass: 4pm-6pm | 13 Wines and Canapés | $155.00
Dinner: 6.30pm | 13 Wines and 5 Courses | $250.00
See our Leeuwin Museum Releases available on the online store here.
Undoubtedly, the 2023 Chardonnays are some of the Margaret River region’s best yet – and it’s a vibrant vintage in its youth. I’ve tasted some of these previously, and they’ve unfurled further with just a few more months in bottle.
If 2022 was a great year for Margaret River Chardonnay, then 2023 proved to be exceptional, thanks to consistent quality across the board.
Wineries that craft reliably excellent wines continued to do so, while ‘solid’ producers were gifted brilliant conditions to elevate their wines.
- Cassandra Charlick, Decanter
"I’ve gone on record more times than I care to count saying the Leeuwin Art Series is Australia’s greatest chardonnay." - James Halliday
20 Consecutive Years of 95+ Points for the Incredible
- Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay
Leeuwin Estate’s Exceptional History
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 1981 “Art Series” Chardonnay.
The international accolades have continued and Leeuwin now exports to 30 markets. The prestigious Langton’s Classification of Australian wine includes Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay in the top “Exceptional” category and amongst the iconic “Heritage five” celebrating Australia’s most exceptional, ground-breaking wines, whilst Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is classified as “Outstanding”.
Leeuwin Estate has been included in US ‘Wine & Spirits’ Magazine’s Hall of Fame in the category of ‘International Wineries of the Year’ and with point scores as high as 98/100, the US Wine Spectator has included Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnays amongst the “Top 100 Wines of the Year” on numerous occasions. Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon has been a UK Decanter Magazine’s ‘Top 50 Wine of the Year’ and a US Wine & Spirits Magazine’s ‘Top 100 Wine of The Year’, whilst leading Australian wine commentator, James Halliday, includes Leeuwin in his ‘Top 100 Australian Wineries’.
leeuwinestate.com.au
“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…”
James Halliday
The Wine List & Menu
2025 Siblings Sauvignon Blanc (New Release)
Bursts of lime zest, citrus blossom, and lemongrass lift from the glass, carried by a zesty sherbet edge. Vibrant citrus and tropical fruit glide across a finely textured palate, layered with lime leaf, gentle spice, and mineral poise. Crisp, balanced, and effortlessly refreshing.
Winemaker Notes
2025 Art Series Sauvignon Blanc (New Release)
Intense and fragrant perfumes of jasmine, kaffir, daisy flowers and fennel greet the nose. A tapestry of lemon, lime, black pastille and guava formulate the fruit spectrum. Elements of complexity reveal with pistachio, blanched almonds and just a touch of cardamom.
A myriad of flavours and textures on palate, beginning with grapefruit, lemon, native lime and granita influence. The shape and frame is precise with purity and clarity throughout. The acidity creates lively energy, then combines with an ocean spray nuance. Savoury layers and textures run parallel to the fruits and acidity, leading to an enviable long and talc finish.
Winemaker Notes
Swimmer crab, dill, brioche
2024 Prelude Chardonnay
Producer. Producer. Producer. Despite the 2024 naysaying (at least for Chardonnay) on account of its warmth, this is unsurprisingly all class and one to jump on for the quality-to-price ratio. Nougat, chestnut and fine cedar mark a savoury beginning before an unfurling of white grapefruit, peach skin and dehydrated lime. Allusions of flint. It’s immediate and open, though with definition and detail. Notes of brown spice and salted lemon emerge with air. It all clicks nicely into place, making for a really striking perfume. The palate is textural and full, with the nutty savouriness and fine cedar notes sitting forward before a cut of pithy white grapefruit and tangy lemon hold sway and pull it linear. Classic Gin Gin clone acidity and phenolic grip put up a lovely long frame around the finish, which is drawn to good length. This is very good, and at its price point it can boast complexity, structure, power and detail.
94 Points - Tom Kline, Wine Pilot
2020 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay
Ray Jordan White Wine of the Year 2024
James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2023
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2023
"It would not surprise me if this was considered the greatest Leeuwin chardonnay yet. You would get no argument from me... there is elegance and power here. Subtle layered wine. It was a year of great concentration and power. Has pear and lime character that is part of the DNA. The fruit is generous, especially about the mid palate. Has a subtle and not overstated flinty character with a lift of spice. The oak is brilliantly managed and complementary. It's very tight and precise and the whole-bunch technique gives it that stalky, phenolics character. There's a savoury almond meal character on the finish. Incredible length and power here. The minerally character on the finish is quite pronounced. In the top three, certainly, of any Leeuwin chardonnay.
99 Points - Ray Jordan
2023 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay (Launch)
Launching at this event. No critic reviews currently available.
Baby gems, soft egg, crispy shallots
2018 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay
Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2022
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2021
Let's put it this way. This is the closest I have come to awarding a wine 100 points. Stellar wine from a stellar vintage. The remarkable thing is that this is a wine 100 percent barrel fermented in new French oak barriques with regular lees stirring for 11 months - and it certainly doesn't taste excessive, or even slightly oak. It has such high-fidelity purity with complex seductive aromatics of vanilla bean and light oatmeal with a cutting minerality and spicy lift. But the palate, oh the palate. This is where things start to explode. Power, poise and persistence with a dry savouriness balancing the intense ripe fruit. It is such a long finish with an ever so slightly, charry finish completing a remarkable wine.
99+ Points - Ray Jordan
2016 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay
Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2019
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2019
Pale colour. Fresh flinty, lemon curd, bitter lemon, grapefruit aromas with yeasty, vanilla, roasted hazelnut. Generous ripe peach, nectarine, grapefruit, pear flavours, fine silky textures, superb mid palate creaminess and integrated mineral acidity. Finishes al dente with crunchy nectarine fruits and underlying savoury notes. Lovely extract, volume and persistency. A racehorse. Drink: Now-2036.
100 Points - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal (Tasted 2021)
2015 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay
Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2018
It was almost inevitable that if a West Australian white wine was ever going to score 99 points, it would have to be Leeuwin Estate's Art Series chardonnay. After much deliberation, a vertical tasting of previous greats from the estate and reflection on my tastings over the years, I convinced myself the recently released 2015 justified the score. There have only been three white wines I have awarded 99 points, two rieslings made by the great John Vickery in the 70s, and a Hunter Valley semillon, so the Leeuwin is in rarefied air. The latest iteration is a mighty wine that carries the indelible stamp of power from its famous Margaret River source vineyard, Block 20, but there is a new degree of delicacy and precision. And perhaps even more extraordinary is that the length on the palate, always the hallmark of great wines, has pushed new boundaries.
99 Points - Ray Jordan
Seared salmon, shiitake, miso butter
2024 Leeuwin Estate Siblings Shiraz (Launch)
Launching at this event. No critic reviews currently available.
2023 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Shiraz
Shiraz in Margaret River can be overshadowed by the greatness of the chardonnay and cabernet, but this wine will go a long way towards changing that. Gorgeously fragrant, an energetic nose packed with bark berries and exotic spice. Supple and sinewy, with dark cherries, chocolate and dustings of white pepper and mace.
96 Points - Nick Ryan, The Australian (December 2025)
Roast chicken, Ligurian olives, confit tomatoes
2023 Leeuwin Estate Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon
This is remarkable value considering the cabernet heritage at Leeuwin. A lithe, bright expression of cabernet, full of lifted violet aromatics, black cherries and ripe mulberries. Lovely leafy etching, notes of bay leaf and sage. Fine, crushed gravel tannins.
94 points - Nick Ryan, The Australian (December 2025)
2022 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon
This is yet another release that shows the continual transformation of Leeuwin cabernets into now some of the very best in the region. It was a terrific year for producing fruit of exceptional varietal expression and intensity, and real balance. This is largely cabernet but again, a tiny percentage of malbec plays an important role. It's had about 50% new French oak for nine months, and overall spends about 22 months in oak. It retains an elegance and poise, yet at the same time, it's powerful and intense. Blackcurrant, a little leaf, a touch of oyster shell, and even a fragrant lift of violet on the nose. It's seamlessly integrated with fine chalky tannins and fine oak. This is as good as any cabernet released yet from Leeuwin.Cellar: 20 years
97 Points - Ray Jordan
2013 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep red/purple: an outstanding colour in depth and hue. The bouquet is clean, fresh and alive with bright black fruit and violet aromas, touches of cedar and toasty oak, the palate very deep and concentrated, with lush fruit and abundant tannins, which counter-balance the fruit and sweetness. A powerful yet elegant cabernet with a very long and distinguished future ahead of it. An outstanding, profound wine.
97 points - Huon Hooke, HuonHooke.com (June 2017)
Shadows of Blue, cumquat, crostini