2010 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge Pessac-Léognan

Simply sensational! This has absolutely everything I love in a bottle of Bordeaux. It’s almost like a made-to-measure suit and, as with a suit that would fit me, this is extremely voluminous and capacious. Fabulous wafts of gently crushed blackberries ooze out of the glass like dry ice; it’s so cool and precise, dense but utterly beguiling. This has firm but ripe-as-you-like tannins with a traffic-stopping finish of several minutes.

For many years at this excellent estate their white wine is always number one or two in quality over the whole vintage, and since their stunning 2005, their red has been zooming up the Bordeaux charts culminating the their spectacular double whammy of 2009 and 2010. This is an exceptional wine and a must-have !
(Simon Staples, Fine Wine Director)

Olivier Bernard has crafted a succession of stunning wines over the past few years and this may well be his best yet. There is a wonderful purity and precision, a real sense of terroir, and great harmony between the Cabernet Sauvignon (64%) and Merlot (34%). The quality of tannins is exemplary, the balance is perfect, the length extraordinary, and the whole thing reeks of pure class. Sorry, but this is a personal favourite and I can’t help but wax lyrical about it!
(Alun Griffiths MW, BBR Wine Director) Domaine De Chevalier

Domaine de Chevalier, offers masses of beautifully concentrated fruit; nose is already very expressive of vineyard class and perfect ripeness, already richly smooth and the tannins will ensure a long and elegant life ahead.
(Steven Spurrier – Decanter – Apr 2011)

Dark crimson. So racy and inky, mineral and sinewy. Chewy. SO youthful! Racy and sinewy. Lively, fragrant. Mouth filling and vibrant though it has yet to evolve much character but the balance seems promising. Acid dominates tannin here.
(Jancis Robinson MW- jancis robinson.com, Apr 2011)

This is one of my all-time favorite wines from Domaine de Chevalier, a silky, rather classic Pessac-Leognan with notes of scorched earth, tobacco leaf and black and red currants, but no hard edges. Fragrant, complex aromatics are followed by a savory, expansively flavored wine made from a final blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine hit 13.5% natural alcohol, which must certainly be among the highest they have ever achieved, even eclipsing the 2009. An opulent, precocious style of wine that seems much more developed, complex and delicious than I thought from barrel, this beauty can be drunk in 5-6 years or cellared for 20 or more.
(95 Robert Parker- Wine Advocate- Feb 2013)

Consultant Stephane Derenoncourt along with owner Olivier Bernard have done a fabulous job over recent years, but the tannic, backward 2010 Domaine de Chevalier seemed primary and difficult to assess when I tasted it on three separate occasions. The natural alcohol is 13.5% from a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot. A youthful inky/blue/purple color is opaque to the rim and the nose offers elegant aromas of crushed rocks, acacia flowers, boysenberries, black currants and subtle toast as well as oak. This thick, rich, tannic, backward wine will require patience. I would guess 7-10 years of cellaring will be essential, but this is a 30- to 40- year wine.
(91-93+ Robert Parker- Wine Advocate- May 2011)

This is loaded, with layers of gorgeous plum sauce, linzer torte and blackberry fruit melding beautifully with charcoal, spice and anise. The long, dark finish has some power in reserve, but it's rounded and enticing.
(James Molesworth – The Wine Spectator – Top Scoring Bordeaux 2010 – 31 Mar 2011)