Leeuwin Estate Art Series
Chardonnay
Margaret River
2023

The producer

Leeuwin Estate is one of Australia’s most iconic and influential wine producers, situated in the heart of Margaret River, Western Australia. Established in the early 1970s by the Horgan family, the estate was inspired by the guidance of legendary Californian wine pioneer Robert Mondavi, who recognised the region’s potential to produce world-class wines. Since releasing its first vintage in 1979, Leeuwin Estate has become synonymous with exceptional Chardonnay, particularly through its flagship Art Series range, which has earned international acclaim and consistently ranks among the finest white wines in the world.

The estate’s vineyards benefit from Margaret River’s unique maritime climate, where cooling Indian Ocean breezes and long, moderate growing seasons allow for slow, even ripening and remarkable flavour development. The Art Series Chardonnay is crafted with meticulous attention to detail, combining intense fruit concentration with elegance, complexity, and longevity. Under the stewardship of the Horgan family and a highly experienced winemaking team, Leeuwin continues to set the benchmark for Australian Chardonnay, producing wines that seamlessly balance power, precision, and a distinctive sense of place. Widely sought after by collectors and featured on leading wine lists globally, Leeuwin Estate remains a cornerstone of Australia’s fine wine landscape.

The wine

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay is the flagship wine of one of Margaret River’s most celebrated estates and a benchmark for Australian Chardonnay. Sourced from estate vineyards in the southern reaches of Margaret River, the wine reflects the region’s distinctive maritime influence, where cooling ocean breezes and a long growing season encourage slow, even ripening. Meticulous vineyard management and careful winemaking, including barrel fermentation and extended lees ageing, contribute to the wine’s remarkable complexity, balance, and age-worthiness.

Art Series Chardonnay is renowned for its expressive aromatics, offering layers of white peach, ripe nectarine, citrus zest, and grapefruit, intertwined with notes of jasmine, brioche, roasted nuts, and finely integrated French oak. The palate is powerful yet impeccably poised, combining concentrated fruit with vibrant acidity, creamy texture, and a signature mineral freshness. Long, detailed, and effortlessly elegant, it is a wine of exceptional pedigree that consistently ranks among the world’s finest Chardonnays and rewards both immediate enjoyment and extended cellaring.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.