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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.
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
Wines tasted 04/07
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