We're back after what we hope was a restful Easter holiday for all, and we've got two fantastic names entering the tasting limelight this coming weekend!
We can comfortably say there are very few modern emergers within the gin scene that imbue the same memorable sense of both purity and concentration that James Gin does! Started up by James May of Top Gear fame, the Brit has proven any naysayers of the 'celebrity distillery' wrong, and as one might expect, has brought forth his earnest and studious nature to the art of gin-making with aplomb. We'll have two of his popular choices pouring tomorrow afternoon (Friday 10th) between 4 and 7pm in the 'Asian Parsnip' and 'London Drizzle' gins, as well as a newer release in the 'California Dreamgin'.
Saturday (11th) brings in a beloved name on annual tasting calendar, with the latest and greatest from Leeuwin Estate pouring between 12 and 2pm! One of the founding wineries over in Margaret River, their shining reputation has been only ardently earned through meticulous low-yield vineyard management, admirable attention-to-detail, and a total commitment to a long-term winemaking vision. This becomes only too clear when one looks at their extraordinary 'Art Series', spearheaded by a wine revered all over the world, the Art Series Chardonnay! The 2023 is showing an immediacy and a finesse that we haven't seen before, and paired with their Shiraz, Cabernet, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc flagships, we can't wait to see what the Leeuwin allegiant out there make of this year's efforts. All following wines will be down on special for the coming week, too!
Asian Parsnip Gin -
$77 on special this week ($82 RRP)
California Dreamgin' -
$77 on special this week ($82 RRP)
London Drizzle Gin -
$77 on special this week ($82 RRP)
Art Series Riesling 2025 -
$24 on special this week ($27 RRP)
"While tasting at Leeuwin, bedazzled by chardonnay and impressed by cabernet, I was gently reminded that this stalwart from some of the oldest vines on the property is as good as ever. Soft lemons, limes, a little pith and leaf in there with the juice. A fine, talcy breadth across the palate." - 93 Points, Nick Ryan, The Australian
“Ah, this smells wonderful, like a citrus grove, especially of lemon and mandarin blossom, and there are some fennel fronds wafting through. The palate is juicy and lively with more lemony goodness, some lime juice with talc-like acidity making this so refreshing.” - 93 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
Art Series Sauvignon Blanc 2025 -
$29 on special this week ($34 RRP)
"The varietal flavours marry well with the texture and detail coming through on the palate, especially its fine, chalk-like acidity. A wave of tropical fruit, think passionfruit, feijoa, gooseberries and Tahitian limes rolls through with some sugar snaps and fresh herbs, particularly basil. This is juicy and tangy, and the slip of leesy goodness bolsters the palate.” - 94 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 -
$30 on special this week ($35 RRP)
“This is remarkable value considering the cabernet heritage at Leeuwin. A lithe, bright expression of cabernet, full of lifted violet aromatics, black cherries and ripe mulberries. Lovely leafy etching, notes of bay leaf and sage. Fine, crushed gravel tannins.” - 94 Points Nick Ryan, The Australian
“Well well, I wonder what the 2023 Art Series Cabernet is going to be like if this is any indication. This is one third each of new, one year old and two year old oak. Black fruit, cherry, floral and bay leaf perfume, cocoa and baking spice. It’s medium-bodied, plenty of flavour here, though it has a crispness to acidity and energy that’s spot on, tobacco savouries, and the sweep of stony tannin is something of a highlight. The finish is fresh and long, tinged with black olive and dried herb, some juicy raspberry in the aftertaste. So excellent.” - 94 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Prelude Chardonnay 2024 -
$40 on special this week ($45 RRP)
"Despite the 2024 naysaying (at least for Chardonnay) on account of its warmth, this is unsurprisingly all class and one to jump on for the quality-to-price ratio. Nougat, chestnut and fine cedar mark a savoury beginning before an unfurling of white grapefruit, peach skin and dehydrated lime. Allusions of flint. It’s immediate and open, though with definition and detail. Notes of brown spice and salted lemon emerge with air. It all clicks nicely into place, making for a really striking perfume. The palate is textural and full, with the nutty savouriness and fine cedar notes sitting forward before a cut of pithy white grapefruit and tangy lemon hold sway and pull it linear. Classic Gin Gin clone acidity and phenolic grip put up a lovely long frame around the finish, which is drawn to good length. This is very good, and at its price point it can boast complexity, structure, power and detail." - 94 Points, Tom Kline, Wine Pilot
"This is as good as you’d hope and better than you’d expect. It’s a very good wine. It has good fruit intensity, a rub of texture, sound-smoky length and strong all-around appeal. It tastes of grapefruit, lemongrass, peach and pear, with cedar and smoke as attractive whispers. All the way along the line, I like what I taste here." - 93 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Art Series Shiraz 2023 -
$46 on special this week ($52 RRP)
“This just might be the value buy from the Art Series range – actually, from recent releases, it surely is. From a stellar vintage, the fruit was individually berry sorted with 20% whole bunches added to the ferment. Total maturation was for a year and a half in a mix of new and slightly older barriques and larger format French oak. A dark mauve/maroon colour here, this is beautifully structured. The aromas weave through blackfruits, plums, graphite, chocolate, aniseed, smoked meats and bay leaves. The oak has been superbly handled. This is an exquisite example of Margaret River Shiraz, one of the absolute elite. It is finely balanced with an attractively supple texture, laser-like focus and impressive length. A refined style, with melting tannins, which will continue to provide enormous pleasure over the next decade. One of their very best.” - 96 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
"The 2023 Art Series Shiraz, which at this stage is pre-release, shows precision and detail on the nose, with raspberry leaf tea and iodine, blood and blood orange, licorice and milk chocolate. In the mouth, the acidity is intense, but it works so nicely within the layers of gently settled tannins—like sheets of tissue paper. It's a lovely wine, wearing the benefits of intensive viticultural work and matching effort in the winery.” - 95 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 -
$93 on special this week ($105 RRP)
"The 2022 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon hails from a warm and dry vintage in Margaret River, one that is showing to be a very high-quality Cabernet vintage. The palate shows a pure core of raspberry and blood orange, nori and raw cocoa, even chinotto-esque in its leanings, with bramble and forest floor, graphite and cracked fennel seed. This is a velvety, tightly controlled, compact and excellent wine. The oak shows ever so slightly on the nose, in the form of malt biscuit and aniseed. This will be quickly subsumed by the fruit in a short time." - 97+ Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
"One of the most elegant Art Series wines to date, yet it still has plenty of detail and power, it just feels more composed. A whorl of mulberries and blackberries all spiced up with cedary oak and cinnamon, licorice root and nori. The more mid-weighted palate is very even, with beautifully judged cocoa powder-like tannins. The invigorating acidity lengthens out the finish. It’s singing now yet will age gracefully. Bravo." - 96 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
Art Series Chardonnay 2023 -
$149 on special this week ($175 RRP)
"This brilliant Chardonnay will surely come to be ranked, not only amongst the best ever from this legendary estate, not only among the best from this thrilling region, but among the best Australia has ever made. This is Grand Cru quality at what has sadly become Village pricing. A profound Chardonnay destined to become a bucketlist wine. A very pale lemon with a vaguely green hint running through it, this is pristine, intense, beautifully balanced and seamless. The oak has almost been completely absorbed, although it is fair to say that it'll probably look even better in twelve months. The wine is, however, immensely enjoyable now. The nose reveals hints of apricot flesh, limes, citrus skins, oatmeal, Madagascan vanilla, gentle touches of grilled cashews, stonefruits and jasmine. Such intensity but meshed with freshness, energy and elegance. Powerful but poised, there is incredible length here, seemingly never-ending, with laser-sharp acidity just one of the many components. There is complexity already evident, although one suspects it is a shadow of what is to come. The intensity never wavers for an instant over the full journey. Stunning stuff, it will still be magnificent in twenty years, likely even more so, and still have life ahead of it. Leeuwin have made some mindbogglingly good Chardonnays over the years, but I think none better.” - 99 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
“Light bright yellow, a very youthful colour for a 2023, and the bouquet is likewise fresh but also seriously detailed, with creamy lees, malt, nougat, beeswax and custard apple aromas, the palate similarly complex and profound, with a chew of oaky tannins that lingers on the aftertaste. Long, long carry. A very powerful chardonnay, searingly intense and strongly structured, and needing more time yet to come into full harmony. Outstanding.” - 98 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
If you wish to purchase any of these wines, please use the links above
Otherwise, if you have any questions, please contact us on (07)32521117 or email sales@thewineemporium.com.au
// Special prices valid until Thursday the 16th of April