Spring, Silk & Australia's Greatest Chardonnay: A Signature Friday at Leeuwin Estate
Spring, Silk & Australia's Greatest Chardonnay: A Signature Friday at Leeuwin Estate
Everyone up north is losing their minds over harvest crush right now — and here I am doing it completely backwards, on purpose. I flew to the far southwest corner of Australia, where October is spring: Margaret River in budburst, when the vines are that electric new-leaf green you only get for a few weeks, the wildflowers are having their moment along every roadside, and the rows are so quiet you can hear the Indian Ocean breathing beyond the treeline. My destination: Leeuwin Estate in Willyabrup — founded in 1973 by Denis and Tricia Horgan, mentored in its earliest days by none other than Robert Mondavi, and the first estate bold enough to plant Chardonnay in Margaret River back in 1976. That gamble became the Art Series Chardonnay — one of Langton's Heritage Five, the most hallowed wines in Australia. Their gallery tasting room doubles as a museum of contemporary Australian art, and every summer the lawns host the famous Concert Series. A winery where art, music and wine are treated as one continuous pleasure? Darling, I was never going to feel elsewhere at home.
🍇 Scene 1 — First Light in the Spring Rows
I was up before the kookaburras, wrapped in ivory silk and morning chill, walking the young spring rows while the last of the mist lifted off the paddocks. The shoots are barely weeks old — tender, bright, impossibly alive — and I couldn't keep my hands off them. One glance back over my shoulder and I swear the whole valley blushed.
🍷 Scene 2 — The First Sip, and the Room Went Quiet
Afternoon brought me inside to Leeuwin's gallery tasting room, where Australian paintings watch you taste like patient old friends. The 2023 Art Series Chardonnay — from a vintage Halliday's Wine Companion scored 97+ points and Decanter called one of the greatest of the past decade — poured pale gold. White peach, grapefruit, that saline Margaret River hum. The first sip surprised a laugh right out of me. Some wines flirt back, and this one doesn't even try hard.
🥂 Scene 3 — Amethyst Hour
The day ended on the hillside deck in a gown the color of the sky's last argument — deep amethyst against a valley washing from gold into violet. I leaned into the railing, raised my glass to the camera, and toasted the Horgans' beautiful stubbornness: the idea, fifty years ago, that this corner of the world could make wine the whole planet would envy. It does. I tasted the proof.
✨ Leeuwin Estate Tasting Notes & Travel Tips
- Wine Featured: Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2023 — Chardonnay, Margaret River; 97+ points (James Halliday Wine Companion) from a 5+/5 "perfect" vintage; one of Langton's Heritage Five alongside Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace
- Best Time to Visit: September–November for spring budburst, wildflowers and blissfully quiet rows; February–April if you want harvest energy; December–February for the famous Concert Series on the lawns
- Getting There: ~3 hours' drive south of Perth along Bussell Highway, or a short hop from Perth to Busselton–Margaret River airport (BQB); the Cape to Cape coastal track runs nearby if you need to earn your glass
- What to Wear: A flowing dress in a light silk that moves in the sea breeze — and don't be afraid of color; the vineyard green and golden light make amethyst, ivory and sage absolutely glow
💋 Everyone chases the northern harvest in October — the crush, the chaos, the buckets of confetti grapes. I went the other way, to a spring nobody photographs enough, and drank Australia's greatest Chardonnay while the wildflowers showed off for me. Consider that your permission to travel beautifully against the grain, darling. Next Friday I'm somewhere the barrels are older than most countries... wear something you don't mind me borrowing. 💋