Lea & Sandeman Wine Merchants

DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER

2010 Blanc Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan

Colour White
Origin France, Bordeaux
Village Pessac-Léognan
Classification Cru Classé
ABV 13%

Tightly herbal; finely directed. Lovely density of compact flavour. Spicy, round. Another level to most of the whites at the Graves tasting: mineral - complex herbal and rock scents, weighty without disturbing intensity, calm glass-like centre, composed. Very fresh and pure and mouthfilling. Full of spice and interest. Rating: 93 L&S (Apr 2011)


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The second year running that a Domaine de Chevalier white has featured in my wines of the year (last year it was the 2014), but it is just such a consistently brilliant choice if you are looking for a white Bordeaux that is going to deliver both with food and without. The first hints of quince and waxy lemon arriving at 12 years old as it slides towards tertiary, with the fruit now fully white pear and peach, with touches of frangipane and flaky pastry. Served out of magnum, Olivier Bernard owner. Drinking range: 2022 - 2032 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Dec 2022)

Pale straw-yellow. Lemon, chamomile, vanilla, ginger and a faint lactic nuance on the restrained, minerally nose. Pliant and sweet in the mouth, offering good concentration and fat to the vinous lemon, guava and grapefruit flavors. Very minerally on the long finish, showing lingering notes of peach, vanilla and coconut. This should age splendidly and will probably be at its best between 2020 and 2035. Rating: 91-94 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (Aug 2011)

In a great year for Péssac-Léognan, it’s no surprise that this property has made such a great white. It’s one of the richest wines in the appellation in terms of alcohol, with bold, expressive, barrel-influenced flavours, but it has a spine of stony, sappy acidity running through it, lifting the wine on the palate. The 30% new oak is woven seamlessly into its texture, too. 8+ years. Rating: 95 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (May 2011)

Domaine de Chevalier

Domaine de Chevalier, located in Léognan and surrounded by forest, enjoys a particular microclimate. Unlike some of the Pessacs which are surrounded by urban development which raises the average temperature, Chevalier is quite a cool terroir.

Olivier Bernard has owned and run the estate since 1983, and has done much to improve the quality of the wines. The white has always been one of Bordeaux's finest, and is even better now, and Bernard has dramatically increased the quality of the red, especially in the last ten years.

Domaine de Chevalier has a soil of dark sand and fine white gravel. It is planted at 10,000 vines per hectare averaging 35 years old.
There are 7 Hectares planted for white with 70% Sauvignon and 30% Sémillon.
There are 60 Hectares planted for red, comprising 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc.

At the harvest the white grapes are picked in baskets with successive picking through the vines.
The red grapes are also picked in baskets, with triple sorting: first in the vines, then the complete bunch on the sorting table and third by optical sorting machine, berry by berry.
The white is pressed slowly, and settlement (débourbage) and alcoholic fermentation occur in the barrel, with 35% new wood. The wine is aged on the lees in barrel with stirring (batonnage), for 18 months.
The red grapes are vatted by gravity without pumping. The alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel and coated steel temperature-controlled vats. Maceration for 2 to 3 weeks with a maximum fermentation temperature of 30° C and manual pigeage. The wine is aged for 18 months (four months on the lees), with 35% new wood.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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