DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER
2014 Blanc Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
Nose here is restrained, with lovely gentle, soft stone fruit. In the mouth though there is an eruption of flavour and intensity - lovely tart apple skin, crisp and almost crunchily bright, like there is a current running through this it is just so full of sparky life, enjoyable and impressive. 75% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon. Rating: 93 L&S (Apr 2015)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Just enough age to really showcase the ability that Chevalier white has to power through the years. Fleshy but precise white peach and green apple fruits. Now that it has a few years in bottle, the quince and white pepper notes are beginning to show themselves, and this is a white wine to make you smile, and to gulp back in way too short a time, with sappy acidity giving persistency, wet stone tension and mouthwatering pleasure. Poised and structured, and very good. Drunk on a boat at sundown, with great friends, a lovely moment of the year. Drinking range: 2021 - 2032 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Dec 2021)
The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc offers orange blossom, quince and dried honey on the well-defined bouquet. I like the manner in which this unfolds with aeration. The palate is well balanced with great depth, very well judged acidity with just the right amount of salinity and a brisk, focused finish. What an outstanding white from Pessac. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2020 - 2040 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc comes across as very young and in need of cellaring. Then again, that's the way it is in most vintages with the Blanc. White flowers, mint and orchard fruit are some of the signatures. In 2014, the Blanc is a wine of power, texture and depth, some of which is found in place of the brighter, more citrus-driven character found in other vintages. In 2014, the blend is 70 % Sauvignon Blanc and 30 % Sémillon. Tasted two times. Drinking range: 2019 - 2034 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
The Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Sémillon matured in around 40% new oak, with a low pH, Olivier Bernard remarking that it was close to 3.0. It has an almost clinical nose, extremely well defined, Zen-like at first with scents of flint and cold granite, stone rather than fruit. The palate is fresh on the entry with crisp acidity, though it is not shrill. It is very focused, "minimalist" Domaine de Chevalier that Olivier remarked is perhaps the best he has ever made. Perhaps he is right. There is a Burgundy like sense of terroir coming through here, a wine that perhaps does not wish to conform to the Bordeaux stereotype of what a white Pessac-Léognan should be. So it's a bit of a sui generis, a one-off, and you'll love it. Drinking range: 2018 - 2035 Rating: 93-95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
The twist of clean minerality brings a smile. You are in the hands of experts here: citrus fruit and controlled sappy acidity - lovely persistency. A great wine - this estate is hitting it out of the park with red and whites. 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon. (Outstanding Pessac-Léognan.) Drinking range: 2019 - 2030 Rating: 95 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2015)
Powerful and intense, the 2014 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is very tightly wound today. Lemon peel, white flowers, slate and crushed rocks are all beautifully delineated. Blocked malolactic fermentations keep the flavors bright and the textures focused. The intensely mineral, salivating finish is a thing of pure beauty. There is little doubt the Chevalier Blanc is one of the wines of the vintage. Readers can look forward to several decades of exceptional drinking. In 2014, the blend is 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon. Tasted three times. Rating: 91-94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Pungent and reductive nose and then very flattering sweet fruit on the palate. Distinctive and relatively rich. Almost ready to drink now! Real finesse. Drinking range: 2016 - 2026 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
A solid and muscular Domaine de Chevalier with layers of fruit. Very dense and loads of flavor. Full body, bright acidity and a long, long finish. Tangy acidity. It lasts for minutes. Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2015)
The nose is fresh the start of the palate bright with high acidity. There seems to be a lack of sweetness in the middle with lemon very much in evidence at the back firm and quite hard. Drinking range: 2016 - 2022 Rating: 86-89 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
This doesn't quite scale the same heights as the very best vintages of this delicious white blend, but it's still impressive, showing attractive, lees-derived creaminess, notes of pear, candlewax and lemon zest, some struck match and plenty of acidity. It just needs a little more concentration. Drinking range: 2015 - 2022 Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
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.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.