Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Cru Classé de Graves, Pessac Leognan 2020

Classified White Wine. Cru Classe de Graves in 1959.

Critic tasting note: (2020 vintage)

"Ripe, lush, and opulent, the wine opens to a wealth of fragrances, flowers, spice, honey, vanilla, green apples, lemon rind, mango, and pink grapefruit aromatics are easy to find. On the palate the wine is silky, lush, and fresh, finishing with yellow citrus and creamy green apples. You can enjoy this beauty on release, but it has the ability to age as well. Drink from 2023-2036." - Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider (96/100)

"Another terrific vintage for this wine, the 2020 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc unwinds in the glass with aromas of nectarine, pear, nutmeg, passionflower and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless, with racy acids and a bright, pure profile, it nips at the heels of the brilliant and somewhat racier, more refined 2019.

This 67-hectare estate in Pessac-Léognan is at the top of its game today, and the 2019 vintage is a striking success. When the Bernard family purchased Domaine de Chevalier in 1983, the vineyards amounted to only 20 hectares; expansion followed in the woodlands (much of which remain) that occupy this site, on the same stony gravel and black sand over iron-rich clay that defines the estate's historic vineyards. It's a cold site in winter, surrounded by trees, but warm in summer, as the stones reflect heat and the black sands absorb it. Farming is now organic and biodynamic, with experiments with cover crops, unhedged canopies and drainage to improve more humid parcels. Sauvignon Blanc is planted in the estate's coolest sites, Cabernet Sauvignon on its warmest, and everything else is planted in between. Since 1983, Domaine de Chevalier has naturally evolved; as new plantings came online, the wines lost some of the intensity-without-weight that had always been their signature. In the early 2000s, a concerted effort was made to attain fuller maturity and more concentration, and the wines became a little chunkier and more obviously oaky, too, but recent years have seen a return to seamless elegance, without any loss of depth or persistence. In many respects, indeed, the last few vintages of Domaine de Chevalier bear a closer stylistic kinship to the great wines produced at this address in the 1970s and before than they do to the vintages of the early 2000s. Olivier Bernard and his team, in short, are to be congratulated for ushering in a new golden age at an estate that produces one of Bordeaux's most singular and characterful wines." - Robert Parker The Wine Advocate, Reviewed by: William Kelley (95/100)

Classification

Cru Classé

Producer Notes

The Domaine de Chevalier located in Léognan, the Capital town of the Graves Region has a long history. It appears on the famous map of Pierre de Belleyme in 1783. In 1983 the estate was purchased by the Bernard Family, N° 1 in France on the spirits market and a major negociant of premium Bordeaux wines. It has been run ever since by Olivier Bernard who perpetuates that spirit of balance and the constant drive for perfection which have been the hallmark of this outstanding wine. The white Domaine de Chevalier is recognized as one of the world’s finest dry wines.

Drinking Window

2023 - 2050

Ageing

Age in barrels for 18 months (35% new oak) with bâtonnage (stirring the lees with a stick).

Harvest Notes

Hand-picked, into small crates.