JM 1ST APPROACH

Cool crushed fruit with some skin contact. The juice was settled for 4 days, racked and inoculated with yeast. 100% of the juice was barrel fermented in new French barriques with the lees stirred every two to three weeks over the 11 months. After 11 months in barrel the various components were blended, fined, cold stabilised and bottled.

The colour is a brilliant straw green. An incredibly complex and lifted bouquet of ripe golden pear skin, peach, savoury toasted ground almonds and white nectarine. This wine is showing multiple layers of fruit and subtle class driven French oak. The result of very low yielding vines matched with subtle winemaking preserves the richness and intensity of fruit. The palate displays a full bodied vibrant wine on the entry, with a creaminess and intense purity of fruit. Pear, nectarine and peaches are the main fruit flavours followed by a subtle sweet spice and almonds. The flavours are seamlessly long with a wonderful natural acid finish.

Intense nose slowly opens up revealing its latent power, grapefruit, nectarine, melon, white flowers, dried pears, then beautifully handled and restrained cashew oak treatment, with a finish of musk and spices. The palate too is tight and taut, but full of latent power, with mouth filling and intense flavours of fresh ripe pears mingling with delicious stone fruit flavours and nectarine. The middle palate shows richness from both the fruit and the lees stirring, with a lingering fresh citrus finish. The new French oak complements the fruit, providing a wonderful balance of warm toasty flavours on the finish. The structure of this wine shows both the power of a typical multi layered Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay with an underlying elegance. For mine, among the best young Art Series Chardonnay I have tried, and I have them all back to 1999, and a classic in the making with time in the cellar. Will develop brilliantly ... world class wine! - Gavin Trott