Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay 2004, S.C. Pannell Shiraz 2004

Another day, another (very tenuous) theme.

S.C. Pannell Shiraz 2004
Sourced from old Mclaren Vale Shiraz vines, this is South Australian Shiraz in a quite modern mould, yet with more structure and less immediacy than some of its compatriots. I’m a big fan of all of Steve’s wines, they are so intelligently made and interesting.

Dark red and quite dense in colour this shows a rich, chocolatey red fruit nose, with some undertones of vanillan oak & some spicy leathery highlights. The palate was initially quite tannic & dry, before opening up to show typically plush Mclaren Vale characters. Steve himself describes this wine as having a ‘ferruginous’ note thanks to the high iron content in the soil and I like that as a descriptor – dusty, loamy, chocolatey and distinctive. It still in somewhat of a transitional stage though and wasn’t completely convincing – it needs a few more years for that. Good stuff however. 17.7+

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2004
I quite like this vintage of the old Art Series Chard – it has already come together quite nicely, unlike the fairly massive vintages on either side.

Bright golden yellow in colour, this is unmistakeably LEAS Chardy from the first whiff. Its a rich, fresh toast & custard (oak, fruit and yeast interaction) meets grapefruit (fruit character) meets vanilla oak character that I reckon all comes from the famous Leeuwin ‘Block 20’.
I went to a multi year vertical with Bob Cartwright a couple of years back where he showed us some of the components of the LEAS Chardonnay. It became obvious that this block is the heart soul of the wine – its like a little Montrachet in Margaret River, with such distinctive characters that just make this wine the high flyer that it is.

Anyway, I digress. The palate itself is arguably heavy handed on the oak, but there is no arguing with the full bore, rich Chardonnay fruit. The palate profile is initially oaky, rich & full, before the palate becomes leaner, grapefruity and acid driven, with the whole package feeling perfectly ripe and polished. Its a lovely drink now, but with time it will become even more complete and that oak should further integrate. 18.5+