Australia isn’t any more immune to the concept of over-priced cult/trophy wines than anywhere else.
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Try a 20-year old version if you can. Then you might see the fuss 
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agree, Rauno, though I do wonder if the winemaking today at Leeuwin may have also taken a slight downturn.
Really need to try a By Farr wine at some point in the near future. Thanks for keeping us updated on your adventures, Don.
sante,
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Hi MIke. I am searching out some library releases. They have a few from pre 2009 out there. They are just a little expensive but as a one off it will be a good chance to try the wine at its best. We are having a blast. Beautiful country.
Not true Mike. They have never been better. They do need 7-10 years to really start strutting their stuff, particularly under screwcap.
kind regards
Jeremy
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I find with LEAS Chardonnay that some are pushing the ripeness boundary, but when they’re on they are spectacular. I think It was the 17 that I had at the winery that was stellar. Had the richness but also the spine.
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Yeah, I’ve seen some young vintages blind in line-ups “fail” to impress. I think we did a blind tasting of several top 2016 Australian Chardonnays last year. While I correctly picked the LEAS (yay me!) and thought it was excellent (it had the most left in the tank, was less expressive than most of the others, great structure) many tasters thought it was middle of the pack. They were all wrong, obvs.
I do not drink them young very often, but if I were to point at a stylistic change over the last 12 years or so it would be that they are now less “new world” fruit-power on release, more reserved and textural.
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Hi Kent (or others), any thoughts on the 19 LEAS?
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I only had it once and thought it very strong. Has the opulence and oak, but also underlying structure.
While we ar on MR chardy, I recommend Nocturne Chardonnays from Julian Langworthy who made all the great wines at Deep Woods. Hard to find but stellar quality for not much coin. Don if you spot one on a list it’s worth a punt!!
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That is splendid news, Jeremy, glad to hear you say so. My last note on one (wow, has it been THAT long??) was from 7 years ago:
2013 Leeuwin Estates Art Series Chard
I debated and brought this because I wasn’t sure how much white we’d have and I was relatively sure very few people had had this—I was right in that only Heather from the group last night had tried it before besides me…and it’s been quite a while since I had a Leeuwin. I did slow-ox this the night before and it was quite unremarkable when opened. The slow-ox did it a world of good. Tonight, real perfume aromatics with hints of peach and golden delicious apple. To taste, there’s a phenolic element but it’s long and delivers plenty of verve with coiled apple flavor. With the escargots, it teases out a little buttercream and butterscotch. Still, this is not the stern, super-structured statuesque chard I remember. Thinking about recent Moss Wood bottles, I wondered aloud whether there’s been some climactic change down there.
Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay has been pretty good but never wowed me. Value seems neutral to trending unfavorable.
If you take away the label and history, I don’t find the wine to hold much distinction. Solid Chardonnay in a medium style.
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I’ve never heard aussies talk about the wine relative to others they are fired up for. Maybe I’m being selective, but much more interesting producers, and at better pricing.
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So, Adelaide Hills wines for me the last couple of days. I had some nice Chards. 2024 Gentle Folk Chard is quite nice. 2023 Ministry of Clouds Chard that I liked best of all of them. These wines are very user friendly. Would love suggestions here. This is not a place that I recognize as a big Chard destination. I had a nice Yalumba Shiraz/Cab recently but I am more of a Burg guy. Enjoying the exploration. BTW the Tazmanian Pinot that won the award was absolutely stunning. 2022 Lowestoft La Maison Pinot.
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The home of Unico Zelo that we mentioned earlier! Could I humbly suggest moving beyond the grapes that are familiar from N America (Chard, Cab, Shiraz, Pinot) and trying a few others?
(Open tomorrow, Sunday 12-6pm; I’ve never been, but I love their fianos!)
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Hi Don,
if you are in the Adelaide Hills, there is one winery you really must try tom get to, they make a chardonnay that is the equal of any thing in Australia.
Mount Lofty Ranges S & G chardonnay, which is as Burgundian as Aussie Chardonnay gets.
As for LEAS, after buying and drinking for over 40 years, I no longer bother opening na bottle before its 15th birthday, if you find a 2010 to drink now, you’ll see what the fuss is all about.
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Hi Don,
If you are in the Adelaide Hills, visit Shaw+Smith. Known for Savvy B but make excellent Chardonnay too and their cellar door is excellent.
Ministry of Clouds make superb wines and they are great people. They drink a lot of Burgundy, as do the Shaw+Smith crew and they are ripper people too!
cheers
Jeremy
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Thanks to all here! Jeremy., Tonight I am having a Shaw and Smith 2019 Lenwood Vineyard Chardonnay. It shows some wood at the beginning but it opens with air. Beautiful balance. Crystalline fruit. Great palate presence to me. Excellent finish. Really enjoying this one. Interesting wines from Adelaide Hills.
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The Adelaide Hills wines are interesting. There’s quite a few new hip producers flirting with natural and low intervention wines.
Some producers worth looking out for include other than those mentioned, Tappanappa, Michael Hall, Vinteloper, BK wines, La Prova, Longview.
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I recommend checking out Windows Estate, tiny tiny producer out of Margaret River. Their Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet are very good and way undervalued.
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@Alexander_Smith thay looks like a Coonawarra Terra Rossa soil profile in your avatar??