| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
This much respected property in Pessac-Léognan is run with great care by Olivier Bernard whose family took it over from Claude Ricard in 1983. During the 1980s and 1990s there was a major programme of replanting here and since the early 2000s, with the vines reaching maturity, the quality here has returned to that of the great vintages of the 1940s and 1950s. Without doubt, the best vintages of Chevalier are the most recent ones. Domaine de Chevalier performs brilliantly every year now and is a regular star of our blind tastings. It wins its flight at the blind "Southwold" tasting with impressive regularity. However, prices have remained reasonable. This is always one of our best-selling wines en primeur.
The 2022 vintage is Olivier Bernard's 40th vintage at Chevalier (and maybe his best?). This is celebrated by a beautiful special label featuring an image from 1941 of a galloping horse. Picked from September 5th to 30th, this is made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. 14% alcohol. For Olivier the 2022 combines all the great elements of the recent top vintages - the classicism of the 2016, the plumpness of the 2018, the subtlety of the 2019 and the elegance and depth of the 2020.
The 2022 Domaine de Chevalier was picked from 5-30 September and represents the 40th vintage under the irrepressible Olivier Bernard, who celebrates with a one-off label. It soars from the glass with take-no-prisoner aromatics: perfumed mineral-rich red berry fruit, incense and black truffle. Pessac-like earthiness with an opposing airiness defines many a great wine from this estate. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins. Slightly powdery in texture and saline in the mouth, this gets the saliva flowing. However, the arching structure on the finish suggests it will require considerable bottle age. Cellar this for a couple of decades, and you'll be repaid handsomely. 14% alcohol. 2034-2075
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier delivers aromas of minty dark berries, cherries and ripe plums mingled with hints of licorice, coniferous forest and spices. Medium to full-bodied, it’s concentrated and layered, textured and elegant, framed by powdery tannins and concluding with a long, penetrating, long finish. Olivier Bernard and his team have crafted an outstanding wine that will bear a special label commemorating his 40th vinification at this Péssac-Léognan reference point.
Adorned with its special label, the galloping horse from 1941, this year's Domaine de Chevalier is a very strong effort for the vintage. Crushed rocks, wood smoke, charcoal embers and polished, deep black fruits come through on the nose. The structure is ever-present but very refined and ripe, with silky, lightly chalky tannins carrying succulent fruit at the core. As with all the best wines from this estate, there is an earthy, bonfire-like smokiness not solely down to oak. This personality gives the wine gravitas that matches the joyous, fleshy fruit. The finish is long and expansive, with cigar leaf, burning embers and more of that powerful dark fruit. Very well made.
Wow. This is incredibly structured and powerful with ultra-fine tannins that are tight and layered. It’s full and powerful with carved muscles of tannins. This will need so much time.
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge is deep garnet-purple in color. It prances out of the glass with show-stopping scents of wild blueberries, black raspberries, and redcurrant preserves, leading to suggestions of candied violets, cinnamon stick, and fragrant soil. The medium to full-bodied palate is elegantly styled, with bright, nuanced black and red berry layers beautifully supported by fine-grained tannins and wonderful tension, leading to a very long and perfumed finish on this stunning wine. pH 3.64.
Showing how it's done in 2022, Domaine de Chevalier comes in strong with a deep ruby red colour, a vibrant rim, smoked oak on the nose, edges of tar, red roses, liquorice root, and a confident delivery of full-on tannic architecture that frames the cassis and bilberry fruit. Delivers vintage signature in a carefully controlled way, with enough slate, pummice stone, mint and eucalyptus to balance things out and slow down delivery. The fruits are fully ripe, heading towards baked plum and fig, but met step by step with a corresponding cooling flavour. 40th harvest of Olivier Bernard (meaning a special label).
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc. 40 hl/ha. In conversion to organic management. Special label with a Chinese drawing of a horse to celebrate Olivier Bernard’s 40th vintage. Cask sample.
Deep crimson. Intensely mineral, highly distinctive, nose. Very different from the sweet fruit-bombs elsewhere. Racy and likely to age well in the Dom de Chevalier tradition. Sinewy but by no means meagre. Very much its own style. Cool and fresh but with fruit that is quite ripe enough and massively mineral. Intense with lots tucked in there for future development. Clean, fresh, appetising finish. 14%
Drink 2030– 2050
Deep ruby-purple in colour. Dark-fruited and focused on the nose, the aromatics here are pure, focused and intense. The palate reveals much more complexity, with velveteen tannins gentle coating pristene black fruit. There are hints of struck flint and gravel, together with some cedar and cigar box. Unfurling in the glass, this has beautiful balance and energy with juicy forest fruits and subtle hints of cinnamon and clove. This is a knockout Chevalier, long, fine and absolutely delicious.
