2017 Leeuwin Estate Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon Australia

Leeuwin Estate is a family-owned producer and one of the five founding wineries of the Margaret River district of Western Australia. The winery is currently under the direction of two generations who work with a team of highly skilled winemakers to consistently produce wines ranking alongside the world’s finest. In 1972, legendary Napa Valley winemaker Robert Mondavi, identified the future site of the Leeuwin vineyard as being ideal for the production of premium wine and provided early mentorship to Denis and Tricia Horgan in the transformation of their cattle farm into Leeuwin Estate. Following its first commercial vintage in 1979, Leeuwin was thrust into the international spotlight when Decanter Magazine gave its highest recommendation to the 1981 “Art Series” Chardonnay. The international accolades have continued and Leeuwin now exports to 30 markets. Celebrating the combination of fine wine, food, art, and music, Leeuwin features an award-winning restaurant, cellar-door, and art gallery. The Estate is renowned for staging spectacular events and welcoming visitors from around the world.

Leeuwin Estate releases wines under the Art Series, Prelude Vineyards, and Siblings labels. The “Art Series” represents Leeuwin’s most opulent and age-worthy wines and is distinguished with paintings commissioned from leading contemporary Australian Artists. Prelude Vineyards wines are made from fruit that produces the most readily expressive wines with the objective that they will drink well soon after release. The Siblings label celebrates the family lineage and the three generations now leaving their footprints on Leeuwin Estate. They all share a place amongst the great wines of Australia, receiving much international acclaim and attention. Leeuwin’s Art Series Chardonnay and Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon are included in the wine auction house, Langton’s, prestigious classification.

Aging: 20 months in 33% new French oak barriques 

 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Bright, lively, and fragrant nose with blackcurrants and dark cherries, combining with higher notes of clove, cumin, black cardamom, and star anise. Beneath subtle notes of coffee and cocoa lie in the background. Fine and delicately structured palate featuring boysenberries, blackcurrants, and plums. Volume and density through the mid-palate is balanced with a bright mineral acid line, finishing with seamless tannins.

After berry sorting and cold soak fermentation in open and closed fermenters with pumping over three times daily, mlf in barrel plus 9 months maturation, further barrel selections in French barriques with rackings timed by a lunar calendar. The taming of the tannin is complete, the cabernet varietal character clear cut ~93 James Halliday

This has an array of bright, red-fruit aromas and flavors with a fresh and crunchy palate that offers a cedary-oak frame to the bright, redder-toned berries. Fresh, assertive tannins. ~92 James Suckling