DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER
2018 Blanc Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
This has a complex nose of dried apple, green mango, grapefruit zest, dried honeysuckle and crushed almonds. It’s full-bodied with bright acidity and a dense, phenolic texture. Vivid and layered with fantastic precision. Very, very long. This needs time. Better from 2026. Rating: 98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)
* 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.
Gorgeous, with both rich and racy elements as lemon curd, shortbread and honeysuckle notes contrast with lemon pith, thyme and fleur de sel notes. Long finish has wet straw and paraffin hints, adding length and range. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Drinking range: 2021 - 2030 Rating: 96 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2021)
This has a complex nose of dried apple, green mango, grapefruit zest, dried honeysuckle and crushed almonds. It’s full-bodied with bright acidity and a dense, phenolic texture. Vivid and layered with fantastic precision. Very, very long. This needs time. Drinking range: 2026 - Rating: 98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Jan 2021)
One of the whites of the vintage is the 2018 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, which is both powerful and fresh in the vintage. Crushed citrus, tart melon, lemon curd, and crushed rock-like minerality all give way to a pure, full-bodied dry white that has integrated acidity and a great, great finish. A blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Sémillon that will spend 18 months in 35% new French oak, it’s going to be relatively accessible in its youth (unlike the 2015) yet should age beautifully. Rating: 95-97 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
The Domaine de Chevalier 2018 Blanc, a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon, slowly reveals beguiling scents of lemongrass, lime leaves, fresh grapefruit, allspice and ginger with a core of fresh lemon and grapefruit. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers bold citrus and spice layers with fantastic tension and a chalky finish. Aging on lees in barriques, 35% new, is anticipated to go for 16 months. Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
Barrel sample. Smells classy at the outset, even though it is introvert because so young: just has hints of everything, fresh citrus, oak spice and leesy depths. On the palate, an incipient quality: cool, fresh, well structured and deeper than most in this vintage. Lightly chewy, lots of fruit and a hint of spice on the finish. Powerful and long. Impressive. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: 17.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
This is dense and very structured with phenolic tension and depth. Full-bodied, lightly phenolic with sliced apples, cooked pears and lemons. Lively and intense. Solid as a rock. This is one to watch. Rating: 97-98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
This is a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon. The alcohol is 13.5%. There is a very pure and precise style to the nose, crisp with notes of star fruit, yellow plum skin and classical sandy-gravelly elements. It has a very correct and true style on the palate, showing a broad substance, filled with bitter orchard fruit notes, white peach and pear, dusted with salted mineral elements. A good phenolic grip which gives it a real sense of energy in the mouth, although the acidity here feels rather subtle. Correspondingly the finish feels a little muted, pithy rather than vigorous. It is definitely a step above its peers in this vintage, with a delicious pithy energy, but the acidity falls short. Tasted twice. The élevage will be 18 months in oak barrel, 35% new, with bâtonnage. Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
What this white does that not everyone has achieved in 2018 is hold your attention. It's not a 2017 or 2011 at Chevalier, but it has grip and personality and a whoosh of citrus and fleshy pear flavours that are highly enjoyable. Touches of spice run through the finish, together with a sweetness that speaks of the ripeness of the fruit. You could drink it today of course, but this is a white that can go two decades without blinking, so I wouldn't worry too much. Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)
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 on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at 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 £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2024 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
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). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2026. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.