Chardonnay Art Series, Leeuwin Estate 2017

The 2017 vintage in Margaret River was a cool one; it was wet and cool and threw up many challenges for producers in the area. Having said that, the success stories are the ones who toiled in the vineyard and made sensible choices regarding crop loads and canopies. So today, at seven years from harvest, the 2017 Art Series Chardonnay is savory and taut and intense. piercing. The structural intensity of this wine—i.e., the phenolics—make an impact on the way it feels in the mouth. It shapes it and makes for firm drinking. The wine is gravelly in its character, rocky almost, with graphite and gravel, a hint of iodine and grapefruit, saline and coffee grounds. Hints of turmeric and saffron accompany the orchard fruit. Sealed under screw cap. Drink: 2024-2040

Such complexity and resolve make for a very attractive nose with peaches, grapefruit, cedary oak spice, gunflint and wet stones. The palate has a plush, smoothly resolved texture with a rich, creamy texture and all-encompassing, ripe stone-fruit flavors, ahead of a very long, smooth finish. Grilled-hazelnut and apricot-kernel flavors to close. Great to drink now, but certainly a decade of cellaring in the tank, too. Screw cap.