- Colour Red
- Producer Domaine de Chevalier
- Region Pessac-Léognan
- Drinking 2028 - 2048
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
2022 - Domaine de Chevalier Grand Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan - 6x75cl
- Colour Red
- Producer Domaine de Chevalier
- Region Pessac-Léognan
- Drinking 2028 - 2048
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available En Primeur
Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuiswaddesdon.com.
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Neal Martin, April 2023, Score: 95-97
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. Drink 2034-2075
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Wine Advocate, April 2023, Score: 94-96
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.
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Antonio Galloni, April 2023, Score: 93-96
The 2022 Domaine de Chevalier is a powerhouse. I don’t remember tasting anything like it. Black cherry, plum, graphite, licorice and spic add to an impression of virile intensity. Readers should expect to play the long game, as the tannins are pretty imposing at this stage. That has been the case each of the four times I have tasted the 2022 so far. Drink 2030-2052.
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Goedhuis, April 2023, Score: 95-97
Having tasted each of the individual parcels that make up the finished blend (over 20) and then the final assemblage on 4 separate occasions, this comes with confidence as “Highly recommended!” Celebrating the Bernard family’s 40th year at the property, Olivier and his children have made a wine that is pure pleasure. This has a succulence and opulence that is beguiling but not to excess, with dark cherry fruit, cocoa powder and oriental spice. It coats the mouth with a generous texture and flavours of vanilla oak give a very appealing sweetness on the finish, whilst always remaining fresh.
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James Suckling, April 2023, Score: 98-99
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.
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Jancis Robinson, April 2023, Score: 18
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
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Jane Anson, April 2023, Score: 96
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).
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Jeb Dunnuck, April 2023, Score: 96-98
As to the Grand Vin 2022 Domaine De Chevalier, this awesome Graves is based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and the rest Cabernet Franc. Vinified in a mix of concrete and wood tanks, with a portion seeing malolactic fermentation in barrel, it offers a deep purple/ruby hue as well as a brilliant bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, smoke tobacco, and damp earth. Reminding me of a supercharged version of the 2016, it's full-bodied and has a layered, silky mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. Released with a new, one-off label, the 2022 celebrates Olivier Bernard's 40th year at the château, and it's certainly a wine worth seeking out.
Producer
Domaine de Chevalier
Known for its exquisite Graves finesse, this property has been owned by Olivier Bernard since 1983. Consulting oenologist, Stéphane Dérononcourt was hired some years back which has contributed to the fresh and clean style. Meticulous parcel selection enables their grand vin to be the best representation of their impressive terroir.
Region
Pessac-Léognan
Stretching from the rather unglamorous southern suburbs of Bordeaux, for 50 km along the left bank of the river Garonne, lies Graves. Named for its gravelly soil, a relic of Ice Age glaciers, this is the birthplace of claret, despatched from the Middle Ages onwards from the nearby quayside to England in vast quantities. It can feel as though Bordeaux is just about red wines, but some sensational white wines are produced in this area from a blend of sauvignon blanc, Semillon and, occasionally, muscadelle grapes, often fermented and aged in barrel. In particular, Domaine de Chevalier is renowned for its superbly complex whites, which continue to develop in bottle over decades. A premium appellation, Pessac-Leognan, was created in 1987 for the most prestigious terroirs within Graves. These are soils with exceptional drainage, made up of gravel terraces built up in layers over many millennia, and consequently thrive in mediocre vintages but are less likely to perform well in hotter years. These wines were appraised and graded in their own classification system in 1953 and updated in 1959, but, like the 1855 classification system, this should be regarded with caution and the wines must absolutely be assessed on their own current merits.
