Domaine de Chevalier Rouge, Grand Cru Classé, 2018
The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier opens with a beautiful bouquet of salty minerals, purple fruits, griotte, raspberry and a hint of tobacco smoke. Packed with hedgerow fruit on the palate, there’s quite a bit of extract here, lots of dark earthy fruit and cool berries. The fruit is robust, but there is a crispness and a certain refinement to the fruit laced tannins that grip the mouth with a salty intensity. As this opens in the glass, more floral notes start to emerge. Authentic, enjoyable and should have a good future ahead. 10% Merlot, 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot.
critic reviews
Domaine de Chevalier 2018 is deep garnet purple in color. It is a little closed to begin with emerging scents of warm cassis, blackberry preserves, and Morello cherries, plus hints of menthol, spice cake, and cedar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a velvety texture and plenty of freshness supporting the generous fruit, finishing with a minty kick.
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, aged for approximately 18 months in oak barriques, 35% new, the 2018 Domaine de Chevalier has a deep garnet-purple color, pouncing out of the glass with energetic scents of crushed blackcurrants, fresh, juicy blackberries and ripe plums, with suggestions of crushed rocks, bay leaves, unsmoked cigars and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with muscular black fruits, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and great tension, finishing long and mineral laced. Give it another 4 years in bottle to flesh out and drink it over the next 25+ years.
Here is another wine that needed aeration to really show its mettle, albeit not as much as others. The 2018 Domaine de Chevalier initially comes across a little ordinary. You ask yourself: What’s the fuss all about? But after 60–90 minutes it reveals an absolutely divine nose of raspberry, crushed rose petals, wild mint and Provençal herbs, beautifully defined and gaining intensity with each passing moment. The palate is very well balanced, the predominantly red fruit framed by fine tannins that provide the backbone to this Domaine de Chevalier, yet the overriding impression is one of elegance and finesse. An utterly sublime Pessac-Léognan that is going to give a lot of pleasure over the coming years.