Leeuwin Estate Margaret River Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
“The 2021 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is lighter in color and tannic intensity than the 2020 tasted beside it. No surprise for the vintages that birthed these wines. The latter was sunny, hot and dry, while the 2021 season was decidedly cooler, with more cloud cover and rain. This wine bears the fruits of the diligent labor in the vineyards and is one of the shining lights in the region this year. There are notes of raspberry and nori, moss and petrichor, blood and forest floor. This is a lighter style of Cabernet—and a lovely one at that.” - 96 PTS, ERIN LARKIN, WINE ADVOCATE (03/2025)
“One of the distinctive features of this wine, and in a way a DNA link to all Art Series cabernet, is its savouriness. It’s the rolled tobacco, nori, iodine and whiff of new leather plus the cedary oak, but these are not separate, they form a whole impression. There’s also the core of excellent fruit, the structure, the supple tannins and the bright acidity. And the joy of drinking it.” - 96 PTS, JANE FAULKNER, JAMES HALLIDAY (09/2024)
“The nose is perfumed and lifted, showing aromas of blackcurrants, boysenberries, cedar, tobacco leaves and graphite. The full-bodied palate has finely integrated tannins and focused acidity, giving complex notes of mulberries, wild blackberries, mocha and spices. Wonderfully balanced and fresh with an underlying power. Drink or hold.” - 95 PTS, JAMES SUCKLING (10/2024)
WINERY NOTES:
VARIETAL COMPOSITION: 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec
LABEL ARTWORK: by Ildiko Kovacs, entitled “Hymn”
TASTING NOTES: “The nose is greeted by blackcurrants and dark cherries alongside anise, clove, cardamom, and bay leaf. It is highly lifted and perfumed with lavender and basil flowers. Complexity is evident with iodine, saline and petrichor notations. Drive, direction and line formulate the shape and frame on the palate. Dark forest fruits surround cedar, olives, and graphite. There is distinct minerality threaded within, leading to a fine silky tannin profile. (ABV 13.5%)”
VINIFICATION: “After individual berry sorting and cold soaking, fermentation took place in closed, static fermenters at temperatures between 26C30C with extraction by pumping over each individual parcel three times daily. After malolactic fermentation entirely in barrels and 9 months of barrel maturation, separate parcels were blended for further maturation in French Bordelaise coopered barriques with seasonal rackings. This wine spent 22 months in total in oak.”