Leeuwin Estate

Leeuwin Estate is an Australian winery and restaurant based in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.

Leeuwin Estate
LocationStevens Road,
Leeuwin 6290,
WA, Australia
Coordinates34°0′47″S 115°3′57″E
Wine regionMargaret River
Other labelsArt Series, Prelude, Siblings
Founded1973 (1973)
Key peopleDenis & Trish Horgan, Founders
Justin Horgan & Simone Horgan-Furlong, Joint CEO's
Tim Lovett, Snr Winemaker,
Phil Hutchison, Winemaker,
David Winstanley, Viticulturalist.
Cases/yr50,000
Known forArt Series Chardonnay
Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon
VarietalsChardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot noir, Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Shiraz
Other attractionsRestaurant
Leeuwin Estate Concert Series
DistributionInternational
TastingOpen to public
WebsiteLeeuwin Estate

History

Leeuwin Estate was established in 1973 by Denis and Tricia Horgan.[1][2] The land was previously used as a cattle station and after having been purchased as part of a deal to buy a plumbing business by Denis Horgan in 1969, the land was converted to vineyards based on the advice of the Western Australian Department of Agriculture.[3][4]

Robert Mondavi provided significant advice during the planning and setup stages of the estate after contacting the Horgans in 1972 to promote the potential that Margaret River had as a wine region and to look for investment opportunities.[3][5][6][7] Initial plantings consisted of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot noir.[4]

Bob Cartwright was appointed as head winemaker in 1978.[3] In the same year that Cartwright was appointed, the first vintage of wines were made. The vines had reached maturity and could provide enough grapes for commercial production and bottling levels.[4] Cartwright held the position of head winemaker for 28 consecutive vintages until retiring in September 2005.[8][9]

The current senior winemaker is Tim Lovett. The winery is still owned by Denis and Tricia Horgan, with their son Justin and daughter Simone working as the company Joint Chief Executive Officers.

Denis Horgan was awarded a Centenary Medal and both he and Tricia Horgan were inducted as Members of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to tourism in Western Australia.[10][11][12]

Wines

Leeuwin Estate produces around 60,000 cases of wine each vintage and owns 121 acres of vineyards.[13]

The most well known wine produced by Leeuwin Estate is the "Art Series Chardonnay". It has been described by wine critic James Halliday as "Australia's finest example" of Chardonnay[13] and the Langton's Classification of Australian Wine places it at the highest level of "Exceptional".[1] The first vintage of the Art Series Chardonnay was from 1980, with the first vintage of the wine receiving a recommendation as the best Chardonnay in the world by Decanter in 1982, bringing Leeuwin Estate to the attention of the wine world.[3][4][5][14] A large proportion of the grapes used in this wine are from the "Block 20" vineyard,[1] which was noted as one of the "Top 25 Australian Vineyards" by Australian Sommelier Magazine.[15]

As well as the Chardonnay, Leewin Estate produces four other flagship "Art Series" wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.[13] Each of the five "Art Series" wines in each vintage has a new painting printed on the label from an Australian artist.[16]

The "Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon" is listed at the "Distinguished" level of the Langton's Classification, being described by Langton's as representative of the "quintessential southern Margaret River style"[17] and by Robert Parker as "one of Australia’s great Bordeaux-styled Cabernets".[18]

A number of lower priced wines are released under the "Prelude" and "Siblings" labels.[13][16]

Since 2002, Leeuwin Estate has bottled all their wines under screw cap.[19]

Restaurant

The restaurant at Leeuwin Estate won the award for the Regional Restaurant of the Year in The West Australian Good Food Guide 2012. It was ranked as a two star restaurant in the 2013 edition of the same guide, and a Top 10 West Australian restaurant in 2017.[20]

Leeuwin Estate Concert Series
Main article: Leeuwin Estate Concert Series

Leeuwin Estate hosts an annual series of concerts featuring major Australian and international performers.[21] The first concert was a performance from the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985.[3][5][22]

In February 2005, a concert was performed by Sting that attracted 6,000 attendees and raised over $4 million for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.[23][24][25]

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See also

References

Notes
  1. "Langton's – LEEUWIN ESTATE Art Series Chardonnay". Langtons.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  2. "Grapes in their blood". The Daily Telegraph. 6 September 2004.
  3. "Leeuwin". Margaret River Wine. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  4. "Leeuwin Estate". WineDoctor. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  5. "From a Granite Coast, Velvet Wines". The New York Times. 2 January 2002. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  6. "Raise a glass to the big white". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 November 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  7. "LA Times – Unknown but Nose-Worthy". Los Angeles Times. 19 July 1998. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  8. "Otto wins on way to perfect wine". WA Business News. 6 December 2005.
  9. "Tourism Australia – Tasting a nation". Media.australia.com. 20 September 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  10. "It's an Honour – Australian Honours – Centenary Medal – HORGAN, Denis Byrne". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  11. "It's an Honour – Australian Honours – Order of Australia – HORGAN, Denis Byrne". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 26 January 2001. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  12. "It's an Honour – Australian Honours – Order of Australia – HORGAN, Patricia Anne". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 26 January 2001. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  13. "James Halliday's Wine Companion – Leeuwin Estate". Winecompanion.com.au. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  14. "History". Leeuwin Estate. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  15. "25 Top Vineyards", Australian Sommelier, p. 28, Autumn 2006
  16. "Wines". Leeuwin Estate. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  17. "Langton's – LEEUWIN ESTATE Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon". Langtons.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  18. "International Acclaim". Leeuwin Estate. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  19. Teichgraeber, Tim (25 February 2008). "Taint, oxidation forces Leeuwin to re-bottle old vintages". Decanter. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  20. Broadfield, Rob (ed) (2012). The West Australian Good Food Guide 2013. Osborne Park, WA: West Australian Publishers. p. 120. ISBN 9780987171948.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  21. Santich, Barbara (24 June 2001). "NYTimes – Choice Tables". The New York Times. Australia; Margaret River (Australia). Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  22. "Vine romance: artists line up for picnic gigs". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  23. "Sting Concert Raises 4m for Tsunami". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 February 2005. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  24. "Sting's special gig for tsunami victims". ABC. 3 February 2005. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  25. "BBC Willie Nelson stages Tsunami gig". BBC News. 10 January 2005. Retrieved 10 November 2010.

Bibliography
  • Halliday, James (1985). The Australian Wine Compendium. North Ryde, NSW: Angus & Robertson. pp. 473–477, 490–507. ISBN 0207151377.
  • Halliday, James (2008). James Halliday's Wine Atlas of Australia (rev. ed.). Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. pp. 234–239. ISBN 9781740666855.
  • Jordan, Ray (2002). Wine: Western Australia's Best. Osborne Park, WA: The West Australian. pp. 50–99. ISBN 0909699887.
  • Scott, Jane; Negus, Patricia (2011). Stories from the Cellar Door: Fifty Margaret River Wineries Tell Their Tales. North Fremantle, WA: Cape to Cape Publishing. ISBN 9780980333763.
  • Zekulich, Michael (2000). Wine Western Australia (all new ed.). Perth: St George Books. pp. 180–184. ISBN 0867780614.
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