The 2008 Prelude Chardonnay provides notes of pineapple, guava and warm apricots on the nose with some cedar and a touch of orange blossom. Full bodied with medium to high acidity and a suggestion of silken texture, this is a wine with very good primary fruit concentration and a long finish. Drink it now to 2015. “Back in the 1970s Margaret River was dying – the wine business established it,” Leeuwin Estate’s Denis Horgan told me as we gazed over his impressive winery, restaurant and concert hall operation. “This area used to have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country previously.” Have a brief drive around Margaret River and its environs and you’ll soon know that the region’s lifeblood these days is wine and its heart is Horgan’s Leeuwin Estate, established in 1975. Never one to do things by half, Horgan’s continually high standards at Leeuwin maintains it as one of the region’s benchmarks. Since Bob Cartwrights’s retirement as Chief Winemaker, Paul Atwood, who is a bit of an institution himself having already made wine there for more than 13 years, has adeptly filled his shoes. Prelude Chardonnay is made just like the Art Series but is blended from a selection of cuvees for earlier drinking. It receives no indigenous ferments and no oxidative handling. The key difference is that there is more forward fruit in Prelude than the Art Series, which is of course designed to age. About 2/3 of the total Chardonnay blocks are fermented in 100% new oak, so that equates to around 40% new oak on the Prelude and it usually spends about 1 year in barrel. The Chardonnays don’t normally go through malo-lactic but for example Paul told me they did use 25% in 2006 because it was a cool vintage. The final difference is that Prelude uses some purchased fruit whereas Art Series is always 100% estate grown. Importer: Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA; www.oldbridgecellars.com

A lively, refreshing style, delivering lots of apple, spice and lime flavors, mingling easily through the long, crisp finish. Drink now through 2012. 500 cases imported.??–HS??Region: Australia / Western Australia / Margaret River Select to Add

這款葡萄酒散發(fā)著濃郁突出的熱帶水果、香料、橡木、柿子、蜂蜜和堅果的香氣。清新酸爽的檸檬味讓該酒倍具活力，而豐富的風(fēng)味層出不窮，這讓此酒頗具迷人魅力，不愧為高性價比的葡萄酒之一。酒精含量：14.5%。

這款 Chardonnay 葡萄酒風(fēng)格華麗，酒體豐滿，風(fēng)味豐富凝練。柔順的口感中帶有奶油吐司，堅果、香草和熱帶水果風(fēng)味。適飲期：現(xiàn)在。評分：90。