2022 Art Series, Chardonnay, Leeuwin Estate

A benchmark Art Series Chardonnay, there’s a natural opulence to the 2022 vintage and noticeable concentration. But this wine’s inherent generosity is more than matched by its elegant poise, floral notes and a taut, linear, age-worthy structure, helped by 100% new barrel fermentation in tight-grained French oak. Plot selection determines the blend, and is a mix of north-south planted rows that bring generosity, texture and concentration, and east-west that bring a ton of taut minerality. The wine is based on Leeuwin’s original 1975 plantings. Malo is blocked, and it spends 11 months in barrel with weekly bâtonnage. Around a third of the wine is whole bunch pressed to barrel, the remaining two thirds undergoes skin contact for 6 - 8 hours to build texture.