DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER
2019 Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan
Composed of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2019 Domaine de Chevalier was harvested from the 23rd of September to the 13th of October. The alcohol weighed in at a modest 13%. It is aging in French oak barrels, 35% new, for around 18 months. Deep garnet-purple in color, it shoots from the glass with vibrant, intense scents of warm blueberries, blackberry preserves and fresh blackcurrants plus hints of spice box, violets, crushed rocks and pencil lead with a hint of menthol. The medium-bodied palate gives an appearance of weight from its sheer energy, offering bags of fresh, crunchy berry layers and a solid backbone of firm, grainy tannins, finishing long and pure. Rating: 94-96 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (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.
‘Delicious. Nose invites you in, more ethereal than most we’ve tasted so far. Nicely spiced, red flesh dominates the palate, but this is subtly complex with mineral lines and fresh herbs weaving through. There is lift and coolness. A fresh purity. Well sculpted, firm plum flesh has a touch of bite. But this is harmonious, with everything in check. Quite a classic feel with some darker notes and a refreshing lift on the finish that keeps you coming back. Long and charming. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot.’L&S (Jun 2020)
The chocolate, walnut, dark-fruit and stone character is attractive. It’s full-bodied and very tight and linear with chewy yet polished tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Lots of intensity and complexity here, as always. Rating: 96-97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2020)
The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier was harvested between 23 September and 12 October, underwent a triple sorting and a 30 day maceration before maturation in 35% new oak. It needs gentle coaxing in the glass, eventually offering broody blackberry, sous-bois, cedar and light brine scents that are certainly more cerebral than some of its peers. The palate is medium-bodied on the entry with crisp tannins, slightly chalky in texture, fresh and mineral. It is very complex towards the finish with blackberry, sea salt and mineral notes, completing an intellectual Domaine de Chevalier with long ageing potential. Drinking range: 2026 - 2060 Rating: 94-96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2020)
The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier has a precise and complex bouquet with blackberry, cedar and tobacco scents, quite Médoc-like in style. This is thoroughly engaging. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, exquisitely integrated oak, fleshy and fine-boned with a precise finish. This is outstanding. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Drinking range: 2025 - 2055 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier is pure, silky and exceptionally beautiful. The 2019 is all in reserve today. Sweet red berry fruit, mint, spice and blood orange lend brilliance to this understated, super-classy Pessac-Léognan red. Lifted floral aromatics and silky tannins grace this exquisite, wonderfully polished wine. Tasted two times. Drinking range: 2027 - 2049 Rating: 97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)
The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier remains a little reticent on the nose at first and takes time to unfurl in the glass (often a good sign, in my book), revealing black fruit, crushed rock, undergrowth and just a touch of brine, perhaps less than in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied, poised and harmonious, with fine-grained tannins, wonderful mineralité and a gentle build toward the saline finish. It gains weight and cohesion with aeration. A noble Domaine de Chevalier that will age with style. Drinking range: 2026 - 2060 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2022)
This is just gorgeous, you see exactly where it is going, with waves of unfussy but powerful black fruit aromatics, a beautiful wine that is full of density and complexity, pared back with restrained cassis and bilberry at this point. Hints of cocoa bean, tobacco, slate, truffle and smoked earth coming through, that will no doubt build over the next few years in bottle. Tasted twice, two months apart, both times hugely successful, easy to recommend. In organic conversion. Drinking range: 2028 - 2044 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Jan 2022)
Very lush and forward, with a lovely wave of warmed plum reduction, cassis and blackberry preserve flavors. Features a subtle rumble of dark earth and warm stone through the finish, where licorice and apple wood accents also peek in. Delivers spine for form, but this is going to provide its best showing in the medium-term, as the fruit is so precocious. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2023 through 2035. —J.M. Rating: 94 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Jan 2022)
Appetising and fresh, the fruit juicy and perfectly pitched. Dark-fruit note with a hint of vanilla oak but subtle and integrated. Finely etched tannins. Firm, long finish. Nothing forced. (65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot. Barrel sample.) Rating: 17+ James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Jun 2020)
A lovely Chevalier, with rich tannins, juicy cassis and bilberry fruit, sage and pepper spice and a slate finish. Similar in style to warm but well-built years like 2000. Not the power of 2016 but this is an excellent wine, with lots to enjoy. Harvest finished October 12. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Jun 2020)
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot.
Harvest: From September 23 to October 13
Intense, fresh and refined nose, of red and black fruits. The aromas of black cherry, blackberry and blueberry dominate in an atmosphere of both peppery and sweet spices at the same time.
Dense, delicate, delicious and energetic palate. Magnificent finesse concentration. Tight and elegant weft. Sweet flavors of ripe fruit are intense, salivating and accompanied by a gustatory complexity very typical of this vintage. Humus, graphite and liquorice. Great overall freshness.
Impeccable and harmonious balance between the sweetness and liveliness of the different sensations.Winemaker's notes (May 2020)
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 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.