Sarah Ahmed, Decanter Premium

Huon Hooke, The Real Review

Erin Larkin, 2022 Halliday Wine Companion

Wine Spectator

Wine Enthusiast

It's unsurprising, given the comparatively cool vintage and Leeuwin's location in Margaret River's chillier southern end, that there's a cool edge to this wine. The fresh currant and black-cherry fruit is etched in savory herbs, menthol, black olive and dark chocolate, with a briny, ocean-swept vibe. Tannins are fine and herb flecked. They're taut but not iron fisted, thanks to fresh acidity and ever-present fruit. It's a tad austere but still offers the drinkability that's signature to this long-standing estate. Would be a knockout with char-grilled steak.

Decanter Magazine

From a cool year, this is perfumed and intense. With buoyant acidity, the silky, cedar-edged cassis, mulberry, blueberry and red cherry fruit gathers impetus through the palate. Notes of sage, anise, bitter chocolate, terracotta and gravel lend savoury and textural nuance. Powdery cocoa tannins and vibrant acidity tease out the finish. Poised, but lingering, medium-bodied and elegant, it is drinking beautifully now, but will go some distance.

James Suckling

This classically powerful and structured cabernet offers ripe cassis and blackberries, as well as blueberries and leafy, herbal nuances. The palate is built on compressed, fine tannins that carry plenty of deep blueberry and blackcurrant flavors. Impressive now, but better after 2025. Screw cap.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2017 vintage has been responsible for a wide variation in quality in Cabernet Sauvignons across the region. Here, the 2017 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon is more minty and structural than the glossy 2016 that preceded it. It it savory and leafy and fine. I recall this being one of the best Cabernets produced in this vintage. It is holding well, and it has plenty of time ahead of it; however, I would drink it before many of the other vintages that surround it.

The release of the Art Series Chardonnay (in this case, the 2020 vintage) is tasted in this manner at the estate each year prior to vintage. This year, in 2023, we consider three verticals: Art Series Chardonnay 2020–1982, Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2019–2005 and the Art Series Shiraz 2011– 2021. In attendance at the tasting were siblings Justin and Simone Horgan (joint directors of the estate), winemakers Tim Lovett and Phil Hutchinson and estate viticulturist David Winstanley.

As is usual for the wines from these vintages, the 2014 and 2018 Cabernets from Leeuwin Estate were standouts in this vertical. So, too, the cooler 2019 vintage. 2018 and 2019 are an interesting pair to compare, as I am reminded time and time again of their differences in style and personality now that they have settled in bottle. The two vintages were really quite different in conditions, and that, pleasingly, has yielded two very different wines in the glass. Personally, I have a penchant for the power and grace of the 2018; however, the aromatic detail and black heart of the 2019s is just as attractive, on different days of the week. No right or wrong. Just different.

Though known for the Art Series Chardonnay, and for good reason, the quality of the Cabernets increases with every year that goes by (we can look to vine age, refinement of style, etc.). In terms of vintages to come, there is the warm and low-yielding 2020, the moderate but wet 2021 vintage, the warm and dry (and by all accounts and according to my 80+ barrel tastings) excellent 2022 and the cool, long, moderate and super fine 2023. Exciting times ahead for this region, and indeed, Leeuwin Estate.