DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER

2019 Blanc Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan

EN PRIMEUR

70% Sauvignon, 30% Semillon We tasted this directly after Smith Haut Lafiitte - a stark contrast. This is more angular and refreshingly lean in comparison. An intense middle, tightly wrapped with lots of citrus bite up front - broadens across the palate. Yellow grapefruit, pith and peel all there and a tasty salinity pervades. Young for now and not overtly expressive - but certainly impressive and with great potential. Will need some time though. Olivier explained to us that this will spend a long stretch in oak, as they like the natural filtration and settling that takes place over the second winter.L&S (Jun 2020)

* 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.

The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc has a well-defined bouquet with citrus peel and light fumé scents, focused and with admirable vigor. The palate is well-balanced with fine weight and intensity married with counterbalancing acidity. Cohesive with a subtle reduction on the finish - this is a quality dry white Bordeaux. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)

The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is a rich, powerful wine. Lemon confit, dried flowers, marzipan, sage and mint all open. In 2019, the Blanc has a distinct orchard fruit and savory character. Ultimately, it feels a bit heavy and lacking in freshness. That said, the Blanc has a track record for developing beautifully for decades, so let's see what happens. I must say I expected more energy and delineation. Drinking range: 2024 - 2039 Rating: 92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)

The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, matured in 35% new oak, has a divine bouquet of mirabelle and (still) that hint of kaffir lime, displaying wonderful mineralité and energy. The palate is very well balanced with fine salinity, good concentration, a little more weight toward the finish than I remember from last year, and a tanginess that provides energy. It gains complexity with aeration. Noble, refined and classy, this is a Domaine de Chevalier from the top drawer. Drinking range: 2024 - 2050 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)

Takes its time, even on the aromatics, to open and enlarge. Just such a confident white wine, with proven ageing ability, able to stand among the great whites of France. There is clear anise and fennel on the attack, white pepper spice, everything well defined and controlled, with white pear and fleshy citrus keeping things uplifted and moving forward. Great stuff. 35% new oak. Drinking range: 2022 - 2034 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Jan 2022)

Blended of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon, the 2019 Blanc was harvested from 3rd of September to 19th of September. The alcohol is 14%. It is aging on its lees in French oak barrels, 35% new, for an anticipated 18 months. The nose is almost completely shut down on first sniff, soon giving way to notions of freshly squeezed lemons and limes, green apples and pear slices with nuances of orange blossom, fresh ginger and marzipan. Medium-bodied, the palate has a beguilingly satiny texture with crisp freshness, packed full of zesty layers, finishing long and perfumed. Rating: 94-96 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Jun 2020)

The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc was picked from 3 to 19 September and aged on the lees for 18 months in 35% new oak. It has a crisp, delineated nose that gains intensity with aeration, offering enticing aromas of kaffir lime, yellow plums and jasmine. A subtle crushed stone scent emerges with time. The palate is well balanced with a saline entry and just the right amount of piquancy. A very saline, marine-influenced finish that gets the mouth salivating. It just cries out for a heaving platter of shucked oysters! Drinking range: 2024 - 2050 Rating: 93-95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2020)

This is an opulent, dense white with dried-apple and honey character. Salty and hot-stone notes, too. Full-bodied, round and phenolic. Formed and beautiful. Quite open. Intense length. Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2020)

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 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. 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 2025. 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.