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Margaret
River, Western Australia
Part
8:
Leeuwin Estate
While
Margaret River has carved out its reputation on the back of its
Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon/Sauvignon blends, Leeuwin Estate is
famous for its Art Series Chardonnay, which is widely regarded to be
one of the top two or three in Australia—if not the best.
It
is also famous for its concerts: once a year, a stage (above)
is erected in the beautiful natural amphitheatre between the winery
and the bush, and a world famous artist is brought in to perform to
a sell-out crowd.
Denis Horgan
I
met with the owners, Denis and Trish Horgan, for some lunch in the
beautifully situated restaurant on the side of the winery, where I
learned the Leeuwin story.
Leeuwin
is actually a bit of an accident. Denis bought the property in 1969,
but only because it was attached to a plumbing business that he
wanted to acquire. At the time, he was working for a merchant bank
in Perth. ‘I liked surfing, so I went down to Margaret River and
fell in love with it,’ he recalls. ‘I then sold off the plumbing
business for what it had cost for the lot’.
A
pivotal phase in the history of Leeuwin was a phone call. In 1973
Denis got a call from a Seattle attorney asking whether he was
interested in selling. Who was the potential buyer? Denis found out
that it was, in his words, the most innovative man in the world of
wine: Robert Mondavi. The fact that Mondavi was interested in buying
Leeuwin alerted Denis to the potential of his playground property
for making world class wine, so, under the guidance of Mondavi—who
became somewhat of a mentor—Denis planted a nursery in 1974 and in
1975 started planting a vineyard. Over the next five years 200 acres
of vines were established.
‘We
planted some things in the wrong spot’, he recalls. Gewurztraminer
was later grafted to Chardonnay, and Shiraz was planted on white
quartz, later to be grafted to Sauvignon Blanc. There are currently
some 360 acres planted here, with low average yields of 2.5
tons/acre (Riesling is the exception, which yields at 4 tons/acre).
Overall, 1200 tons are produced each year, with 10% of grapes
brought in.
The
first of the famous Leeuwin concerts was held in 1985, and now
180–200 000 people visit each year. The acclaimed restaurant at
the winery opened just after the first crush.
Chardonnay
was first planted as a result of the Mondavi influence, and was
actually quite rare at the time in Australia. In 1980 the first
Leeuwin Chardonnay was made, and it received high praise from
Decanter in 1982.
I
had a chance to look round the winery with winemaker Paul Atwood (above),
where we did the geeky stuff of tasting from barrels/tanks and
talking about winemaking techniques. The breakdown in the vineyards
is 60% whites, 40% reds, with most vines around 35 years old. All
are dry grown, and in the winery everything is done in batches
before blending at the end. We looked at some tanks of 07 – a
grassy, fresh Semillon and a tight lemony Riesling (this has been
made from the start and is a best seller). Then, a look at the art
series Chardonnay. The 06 was a year in oak and is now in tank.
It’s a lovely broad, complex nutty wine that’s very full and
complex. The 07 block 20 is rich, spicy and nutty with real depth to
it. 07 Block 22 is fuller, richer and spicier. The Chardonnay is
picked at 23.5 brix once it has its flavour. ‘We get a lot of ripe
peach character. We’re not using lots of solids to try to thicken
it up and there’s no oxidative juice handling,’ says Paul, ‘we
just want pure fruit.’ He adds that most places in Margaret River
have the Chardonnay clone known as Gingin, which is thought to be
the same as Mendoza. This gives lots of hens and chickens (different
sized berries in the same bunch) with high phenolics. It’s a low
cropping, high intensity clone. The newer clones have less fruit
intensity but are more uniform.
Then
we looked at the 2007 Shiraz. ‘We don’t want a Barossa style,
but we don’t want a cool-climate style either’. This is an
intense black colour with lovely black fruits. Rich, soft and a bit
meaty. 25% whole bunches gives this wine a bit of a lift.
‘Barrels
are so important to us’, says Paul. We have 20 different coopers,
and use oak from six different forests. We assess barrels blind to
see which are working.’ They don’t want the charry, rich
character that comes from some Burgundian coopers, but prefer the
length and structure typical of Bordeaux coopers.
The
2007 Cabernet is a fantastic purple/black colour and has a lovely
rich, intense Cabernet nose. Lovely purity of fruit here. Bold and
intense with good tannins, this is excellent. ‘We got all the reds
off in seven days in 2007: some people got caught out.’
2007
Malbec: ‘The consistency and depth of Malbec is amazing every
year’, claims Paul. ‘Margaret River is perfectly suited to
Malbec. Malbec absolutely slaughters Merlot’. Incredible depth of
colour. Spicy, intense nose. Vivid, savoury, spicy and intense with
dark fruits palate. Lovely spice and tannins.
Then
we looked at some bottled wines. I can’t recall many wineries with
such a consistently strong line-up as this.
Notes
from April 2007 (more recent notes from January 2012 are below)
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Riesling 2006 Margaret River
Bright, fresh, zippy and intense with nice savoury density and
good acidity. Quite minerally on the finish. A bold style. 89/100
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2004 Margaret River
Rich, complex, toasty and full but with nice acidity and a bit
of mineralic grip. It’s rich but beautifully focused. A fantastic,
balanced Chardonnay. 94/100
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2005 Margaret River
Richly textured, complex Chardonnay with bready, spicy, toasty
notes and a bit of minerality, too. Long, rich and full, this has
real depth and layer after layer of interest. 96/100
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Margaret River
Dense, firm, spicy tannins dominate this beautifully fruited,
spicy Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s quite aromatic with blackcurranty
fruit. Good tannins and some elegance, too. 93/100
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Shiraz 2005 Margaret River
Dark, perfumed spicy nose is very expressive with a peppery
elegance to it. The palate is firm and quite dense, with lovely
spicy structure underpinning the sweet fruit. A deliciously savoury
style. 94/100
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2004 Margaret River
Lovely savoury, meaty, spicy, chocolatey nose with forward dark
fruits. The palate is quite restrained with a smooth, elegant
character. Nicely savoury, showing dark fruits, some earthy
structure and good acidity. A bit old world in style. 93/100
More
recent notes (January 2012):
I
recently got a chance to re-visit the Leeuwin wines, and these are
my notes. A really consistent line up. UK agent is Domaine Direct (www.domainedirect.co.uk);
UK retail prices in brackets
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Riesling 2010 Margaret River, Western Australia
Very fresh grapefruit and citrus nose. The palate is fresh, bright
and dry with high acidity and lovely delicate citrus fruit. Very
fine. 92/100 (£17.99)
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Sauvingnon Blanc 2010 Margaret River, Western
Australia
Slightly
eggy reductive nose. The palate has a green herbal/green pepper edge
as well as some rich fruit. Reductive. 82/100. Second bottle, also
under screwcap is much better with bold ripe grapefuit freshness.
90/100 (£22)
Leeuwin
Estate Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 2009 Margaret River, Western
Australia
Lively,
rich and powerful with peach and apricot fruit as well as toasty
richness. Interesting wine with lovely fruit intensity. 93/100 (£24.99)
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2008 Margaret River, Western Australia
Beautiful
stuff: concentrated and rich yet fine and powerful with some apricot
richness and lovely texture and finesse. Fine toastiness and a
rounded mouthfeel, leading to a long finish. Fabulous. 95/100 (£55.99)
Leeuwin
Estate Prelude Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2010 Margaret
River, Western Australia
Ripe
and elegant with fresh blackberry fruit, as well as some leafy notes
and a bit of gravelly savouriness. Grippy tannic edge. Fine and
expressive. 92/100 (£23.99)
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Shiraz 2009 Margaret River, Western Australia
Fresh,
vivid and quite powerful with a spicy finish. Vivid blackberry fruit
is backed up by some spiciness and a hint of mint. 90/100
Leeuwin
Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Margaret River, Western
Australia
Concentrated,
fine and gravelly. Fresh and savoury with notes of tar, spice and
chalk as well as sweet fruit. Good concentration. Very fine. 94/100
(£36.99)
Wines
tasted 04/07
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