Domaine de Chevalier rouge - Pessac-Léognan 2021

Vinous

94,5

par Antonio Galloni le 02/04/2024

The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier comes across as quite shy and reticent in this vintage. The aromatics are beguiling, but on the palate, the wine feels a bit strict and clamped down. Crushed flowers, sweet red-toned fruit, spice, mint and blood orange emerge

Vinous

94,5

par Antonio Galloni le 28/02/2024

The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier comes across as quite shy and reticent in this vintage. The aromatics are beguiling, but on the palate, the wine feels a bit strict and clamped down. Crushed flowers, sweet red-toned fruit, spice, mint and blood orange emerge, but only with great reluctance. It will be interesting to see how the 2021 develops over time. Tasted twice.

Wine Advocate

94

par William Kelley le 22/02/2024

The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier reveals a deep, complex bouquet with aromas of blackberries and blueberries mingled with spices, cigar wrapper and coniferous forest floor, followed by a medium to full-bodied, sweet and concentrated palate animated by bright acids and framed by fine, powdery tannins. It's an impressive effort that will reward a bit of bottle age. It's a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc. 94+

Wine Spectator

89

par James Molesworth le 22/02/2024

Ripe, though still relatively sedate in feel, with black cherry compote laced with tobacco, worn cedar and savory notes. Features a flash of tar, which adds some weight to the finish. A nice effort for the vintage. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2030. 8,500 cases made.  –JM

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

94

par Jane Anson le 30/01/2024

Great stuff, with momentum building from beginning to end, blueberry, black cherry fruits, delivered with an extra kick of liqourice and chocolate. Needs time to age, but feels like it will reward a good five to six years in bottle, and is one of the few where you don't have to excuse the vintage - just enjoy an earlier-drinker, well sculpted year. 30hl/h yield. In organic conversion. An upsocre.

matthewjukes.com

18

par Matthew Jukes le 02/08/2022

This is a superb 2021 with flamboyant fruit perfectly matched with careful oak and feisty tannins. I am very impressed because it shows more mid-palate integrity than many others in greater Graves. The notes are profound and accurate, and the length is uncommon. But, most importantly, the perfume is sensational, and it stands out from the crowd, not least because its grandeur and complexity are unmistakable. 18

Jamessuckling.com

95-96

par James Suckling le 08/06/2022

A medium-bodied DC with a pretty core of ripe fruit that shows licorice, blackberry and some currant character. Spice box, too. Very long, with fine tannins and plenty of energy. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 5% petit verdot and 5% cabernet franc.

Jeb DUNNUCK

93-95

par Jeb Dunnuck le 02/06/2022

A true success in the vintage is the 2021 Domaine de Chevalier from the team of Olivier Bernard. Based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, it was harvested between the September 28 and October 12. It will spend 18 months in a mix of new and used barrels. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and focused, with the style of the vintage front and center, it has gorgeous cassis and darker fruits, notes of tobacco and violets, ripe tannins, a great mid-palate, and outstanding length. It's up there with the top wines in the vintage.

Bettane & Desseauve

95-96

par Bettane & Desseauve le 24/05/2022

L’une des grandes réussites de l’appellation, avec de toute évidence des cabernets qui sont allés loin en maturité de raisin. Énergie, finesse aromatique, noblesse du tannin et du boisé. Tous les échantillons dégustés son parfaitement tirés.

The Vintage Journal

92-93

par Andrew Caillard MW le 17/05/2022

Medium-deep crimson. Fragrant almost herbal with red cherry, mulberry sage aromas and underlying cedar/ sesame notes. Inky and oaky with plentiful red cherry, redcurrant fruits, fine chalky/ cedar textures and savoury vanilla oak. Still in parts but should develop quite well. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 5% petit verdot, 5% cabernet franc. 18 months in new and seasoned French oak. 13% alc

Alexandre Ma

95-96

par Alexandre Ma le 16/05/2022

The 80% Cabernet Sauvignon shows extraordinary grace in Domaine de Chevalier 2021. When it greets me with fragrances of cedar, cigarette ash, and scandalwood, when the taste of ripened and juicy berries takes up my palates, I witness a “traditional Bordeaux with modern aesthetics”. Bravo to Domaine de Chevalier! For it delivers the dreamy ripeness in such a difficult vintage, interpreting the brave chivalry spirit that I admire. 80%????????2021?????????????????????????????????????;???????????????,??????“??????????????”????????????Call,?????????????????????,??????????,“????”??????

The Wine Cellar Insider

93-95

par Jeff Leve le 16/05/2022

Deeply colored, initially you find flowers, black and dark red pit fruits, Indian spice, black pepper, cassis and black currants on the nose. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, sweet, fresh and round, as well as a bit chewy, with loads of ripe berries accented with espresso and cocoa in the endnote. The wine blends 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc, making this one of the highest percentages of Cabernet even used in the blend here. 13.% ABV. The harvest took place September 28 - October 15. Yields were low at only 30 hectoliters per hectare. The is the first vintage that was produced being 100% biodynamic in the vineyards. Drink from 2025-2048. 93-95

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

94

par Jane Anson le 13/05/2022

Vinous

93-95

par Neal Martin le 12/05/2022

The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier was picked from September 28 until October 15 at 30hL/ha. Tobacco- and sous-bois-infused black fruit unfurl with a sense of assuredness on the nose, the best example, a third bottle toward the end of my tastings, being the most delineated. This has energy rather than horsepower. The palate is medium-bodied with pencil-lead-infused black fruit and a slightly powdery texture, certainly the most saline in recent years, leading to an almost Pauillac-inspired finish. Stylish and classic Domaine de Chevalier.

Vinous

94-96

par Antonio Galloni le 11/05/2022

The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier was terrific both times I tasted it. Potent and driving, the 2021 dazzles with Cabernet Sauvignon intensity in its aromas, flavors and overall structure. Graphite, spice, menthol, spice, rose petals, mocha and flowers run through a core of red/purplish fruit. The Blanc gets most of the attention at Domaine de Chevalier, but these days I find the red more complete and more interesting.

vvwine

93-95

par Adrian Van Velsen le 10/05/2022

Tiefdunkel. In der Nase, ein nobles Parfüm, reife, dunkle Frucht, etwas Tabak, Cassis, dezente Röstnoten. Der Gaumen ist kräftig und gut strukturiert, saftig und noch etwas ungestüm, mit markanten, feinkörnigen Tanninen, einer wunderbaren Säure und saftiger Frucht baut der Wein Druck auf, da ist genügend Fleisch am Knochen, um das Strukturkorsett zu verdauen. Im Abgang hallt der Wein lange nach, endet rotfruchtig und mit feiner Würze. Ausgezeichnet, auch dieses Jahr. 2028-2045+ (Verkostet im April 2022. Syndicat Viticole de Pessac-Léognan/Dourthe)

Anthocyanes

90-92

par Yohan Castaing le 06/05/2022

Très marqué par le bois avec, peut être, la sensation de malos en barrique, Domaine de Chevalier offre des notes de réglisse, d'épices, de fumé et de fruits noirs. Dommage que le bois ne laisse que peu de place aux fruits noirs. La bouche est moelleuse, légèrement sucrée, assez tannique et l'empreinte boisée toujours aussi marquée avec des notes de clous de girofle. Les tanins sont structurants mais manquent de délicatesse. A l'heure où beaucoup laissent s'exprimer le fruit, on a l'impression que Domaine de Chevalier fait machine arrière. Attendons la fin des élevages avant d'être définitif.

Wine Advocate

93-95

par William Kelley le 29/04/2022

The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier is full of promise, bursting with aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with loamy soil, bay leaf, licorice, potpourri and spices. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and complete, its velvety attack segues into a lively, layered core, concluding with a long, nicely defined finish. Olivier Bernard doesn't think that this will surpass his 2018, but I tend to disagree. The 2021 is a blend of fully 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Decanter.com

94

par Georgina Hindle le 01/04/2022

Aromatic nose, perfumed black fruits, bramble tones and a touch of sweet spice. Round and mouthfilling, this has good density and depth for the vintage, tannins are on the juicy plump side with a dry grippy texture though satisfying not austere with the fruit powering through giving cherry and blackcurrant flavours. This has good persistency and doesn't let up - it's not a showstopper at this point but I love the quality of the fruit and the tannins and the lifted acidity as well as the darker more savoury elements of liquorice, black chocolate, graphite and smoked cedar that come in towards the end. Lots going on here with good potential. You get the impression nothing is hiding and I love that. Really the grapes and the terroir on show. A good success and will be interesting to taste in bottle. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend.