DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER
2016 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
| Colour | Red |
| Origin | France, Bordeaux |
| Village | Pessac-Léognan |
| Classification | Cru Classé |
| ABV | 14% |
Ripe, balanced and harmonious dark fruit nose. Very supple feel on the attack, rich velvet and firm-tannined weight. Some oak evident, but the underlying wine is a match for it. On one sample a tiny hint of jammy fruit, on another very juicy, ripe raspberry and blackberries, with a hint of sweetness but not tipping over into over-ripe at all. Fresh acidity on the finish - all very juicy. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 93-95 L&S (Apr 2017)
| 6 | ||
*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.
As to the reds, the 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that saw an extended maceration, malo in barrel, and 18 months in just 35% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts a powerful bouquet of tobacco smoke, damp earth, gravelly, rocky minerality, wood smoke, and loads of dark fruits. Full-bodied, deep, concentrated yet incredibly elegant and seamless on the palate, it’s a legendary Chevalier in the making. While I rated this as high as 99 points on one of the four separate occasions I was able to taste it, I’m being conservative with the score. it has some upfront charm but needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for 3-4 decades. Drinking range: 2023 - 2063 Rating: 97 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Feb 2019)
The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a thrilling wine. Dense and beautifully layered, the 2016 is also quite a bit richer than it usually is. Cabernet Sauvignon aromatics and structure pulse through the wine. The red-toned fruit is incredibly primary at this stage. Readers should be prepared to cellar the 2016 for at least a handful of years. It has been nothing short of magnificent on the three occasions I have tasted it so far. Drinking range: 2026 - 2066 Rating: 97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2019)
The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a classy affair on the nose: nothing ambitious or self-aggrandizing, just beautifully defined black fruit laced with pine needles and wilted irises. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, filigreed tannin, pitch-perfect acidity and a captivating sense of mineralité toward the persistent finish. This is an outstanding Domaine de Chevalier, possessing a surfeit of pedigree and breeding. Drinking range: 2022 - 2055 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2019)
Domaine de Chevalier
Domaine de Chevalier, located in Léognan and surrounded by forest, enjoys a particular microclimate. Unlike some of the Pessacs which are surrounded by urban development which raises the average temperature, Chevalier is quite a cool terroir.
Olivier Bernard has owned and run the estate since 1983, and has done much to improve the quality of the wines. The white has always been one of Bordeaux's finest, and is even better now, and Bernard has dramatically increased the quality of the red, especially in the last ten years.
Domaine de Chevalier has a soil of dark sand and fine white gravel. It is planted at 10,000 vines per hectare averaging 35 years old.
There are 7 Hectares planted for white with 70% Sauvignon and 30% Sémillon.
There are 60 Hectares planted for red, comprising 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc.
At the harvest the white grapes are picked in baskets with successive picking through the vines.
The red grapes are also picked in baskets, with triple sorting: first in the vines, then the complete bunch on the sorting table and third by optical sorting machine, berry by berry.
The white is pressed slowly, and settlement (débourbage) and alcoholic fermentation occur in the barrel, with 35% new wood. The wine is aged on the lees in barrel with stirring (batonnage), for 18 months.
The red grapes are vatted by gravity without pumping. The alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel and coated steel temperature-controlled vats. Maceration for 2 to 3 weeks with a maximum fermentation temperature of 30° C and manual pigeage. The wine is aged for 18 months (four months on the lees), with 35% new wood.
- For full delivery details see our Delivery page.
- We offer free nationwide* delivery for all orders over £150 with our own vans. We also offer an express delivery service for an additional charge.
- Order & Collect from any of our 5 London shops. Order by Midnight for collection the next working day from 11am.
- Private wine storage: we offer a full In Bond and Duty Paid private wine storage service - find out more here.
RELATED PRODUCTS
2019 LE C DES CARMES HAUT BRION Pessac-Léognan
Bordeaux France 13% Red
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc.
A blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2019 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion was made with 28% whole-bunch fermentation and has a pH of 3.7. It rolls effortlessly out of the glass with open sce...(read more)
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
2009 CHÂTEAU HAUT BAILLY Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
Bordeaux France 13.5% Red
.
Dark crimson to black. Good nose of fresh dark fruit with hints of smoke and spice. Entry is crisp and suave, an immediate (and continued) sense of real vineyard balance. Good concentration and density through the mid-pa...(read more)
L&SORDER COLLECT
ORDER ONLINE AND COLLECT FROM ONE OF OUR SHOPS