2017 Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Art Series

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.

Tasted from a 10-cl sample bottle. 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec. Machine-picked, berry sorted and fermented in closed, static fermenters at 26–30 °C with extraction by pumping over each individual parcel three times daily. After malolactic fermentation entirely in barrels and nine months of barrel maturation, separate parcels were blended for further maturation in French bordelaise-coopered barriques (medium toast) with seasonal rackings. 22 months in total in oak. Egg-white fined. Bottled 1–5 February 2019. Not yet released. TA 6.96 g/l, pH 3.35. Very slightly smoky, then Douglas fir pine needles, a touch of dark caramelised bacon scrapings. Balsamic richness and depth threads through dark fruit; black plums baked to sticky char, sooty olives, crushed box leaf, caraway. The tannins are so polished they almost seem to have an inner glow. And the fruit, mid palate, also seems to glow ruby-like and fresh and full of life. You couldn't but be seduced by this. (TC)

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.