2016 | Domaine de Chevalier | Pessac-Leognan 6L

Aromas of blackberries, red and dark plums, cedar and gravel, as well as red flowers and brown-leaf tea. It offers a very sleek and powerful array of ripe dark fruit and a very plush, focused and elegant bed of fresh, fine and powerful tannins.

Reviews:

• Vinous: 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.

• Jeb Dunnuck: 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.

Producer Information

Domaine de Chevalier is a highly-regarded wine estate in the Pessac-Léognan appellation of the Graves region just south of Bordeaux city. It was classified a Grand Cru Classé de Graves in 1959 for both its red (a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend) and white (a classic white Bordeaux Blend) wines. The estate has around 60 hectares (148 acres) under vine on gravel- and clay-rich soils, with most of that dedicated to the red grape varieties. While Cabernet Sauvignon makes up the bulk of red plantings (63 percent), there is also Merlot (30 percent) as well as two percent Cabernet Franc and five percent Petit Verdot. White plantings are almost three quarters (70 percent) Sauvignon Blanc and 30 percent Semillon. Grapes are harvested by hand and vinified in lots to ensure the best possible wine – Domaine de Chevalier has a reputation for making good wines even in average vintages. Barrel-aging is for up to 18 months with 35 percent new french oak. Domaine de Chevalier is notable for having kept its 'domaine' title, which is more at home in Burgundy than it is in Bordeaux. Chevalier comes from the Gascon word for knight, an homage to a trail on the property believed to have been used by knights in the 12th to 14th centuries. In 1983, the domaine came under its current ownership when it was bought by the Bernard family, who renovated the winery and expanded the vineyard. Production of the top wines totals about 140,000 bottles annually. There is also a second wine, Esprit de Chevalier, which is made from younger vines. The winemaking team at Domaine de Chevalier have, since 1993, also overseen the vineyard and wines of Domaine de la Solitude, a wine estate owned by a holy order in Martillac, to the southeast of Domaine de Chevalier.

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