2016 Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

2016 Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

Product: 20168003298
Prices start from £295.00 per case Buying options
2016 Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

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Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

Olivier Bernard has come up trumps again in 2016 with a sensational wine. It sits in the glass with a dark purple hue and attractive aromas of blackcurrant, cassis, bramble and dark fruit. On the palate there is an explosion of concentrated red fruit with suave acidity. This is a very compact and precise wine, the tannins are there but they take an age to come through, enveloped by a coating of fruit. Oustanding!

Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 30%, Petit Verdot 5%

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate94+/100
The 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple colored, it rocks up with expressive warm plums, blueberry compote and cassis scents with suggestions of sandalwood, baking spices and potpourri. Medium-bodied and delicately styled yet with a rock-solid frame of grainy tannins, it sports restrained earth-laced fruit and a long finish.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 30/11/2018 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW17+/20
Concentrated and luscious. Real life and savour on the (at the moment slightly inky) end. One of the most youthful samples I encountered. Dry sandpaper end but perhaps it's a more honest sample than most?
Jancis Robinson - 24th April 2017 Read more
Wine Spectator93-96/100
Intense raspberry and boysenberry fruit drives along, flecked with anise hints and scored with roasted apple wood details. A touch toothy on the finish, with a loamy note, but the fruit takes an encore, which is a great sign for the future.
James Molesworth - Wine Spectator, April 2017 Read more
Decanter96/100
Rich, round and beautiful, there really is distance between red and white this year. This has all the signature welcome and power of the very best vintages of Domaine de Chevalier, one of the 'clue' châteaux you should follow to track the quality of reds and whites in Bordeaux in any given vintage. Here you see that 2016 hits it out of the park with the reds. Rich damson, deep black cherry, slate, wet stones and curls of cold ash - this has beautiful complexity and texture. Stunning. Drinking Window 2027 - 2050.
Jane Anson - Decanter, 3rd April 2017 Read more

About this WINE

Domaine de Chevalier

Domaine de Chevalier

Domaine de Chevalier is one of the few Graves estates to produce both first class reds and whites. The property was purchased by the Ricard family in 1865 and remained in their hands until it was bought by the Bernard distilling company in 1983. Domaine De Chevalier has 35 hectares of vines and red wine accounts for 80% of the production. Made from a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc, the wine is fermented in temperature-controlled, stainless steel vats and then matured in oak barriques (50% new) for 18 months.

Domaine de Chevalier is fortunate to have such a fine team to run its affairs. Olivier, whose family business owns the estate, is the outgoing but canny administrator whilst Rémi Edange is hands-on, knowing every vine and every barrel. Whilst their white wines have always been amongst the very finest, the reds were simpler affairs. But from the 1995 vintage onwards greater flair and concentration was in evidence. The quality curve is now further accentuated by the team's bold move to appoint Stéphane Derenoncourt, of La Mondotte fame, as consultant winemaker. Domaine De Chevalier is classified as a Graves Cru Classé.

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Pessac-Leognan

Pessac-Leognan

In 1986 a new communal district was created within Graves, in Bordeaux,  based on the districts of Pessac and Léognan, the first of which lies within the suburbs of the city. Essentially this came about through pressure from Pessac-Léognan vignerons, who wished to disassociate themselves from growers with predominately sandy soils further south in Graves.

Pessac-Léognan has the best soils of the region, very similar to those of the Médoc, although the depth of gravel is more variable, and contains all the classed growths of the region. Some of its great names, including Ch. Haut-Brion, even sit serenely and resolutely in Bordeaux's southern urban sprawl.

The climate is milder than to the north of the city and the harvest can occur up to two weeks earlier. This gives the best wines a heady, rich and almost savoury character, laced with notes of tobacco, spice and leather. Further south, the soil is sandier with more clay, and the wines are lighter, fruity and suitable for earlier drinking.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Haut-Brion, Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, Ch. Pape Clément, Ch Haut-Bailly, Domaine de Chevalier, Ch. Larrivet-Haut-Brion, Ch. Carmes Haut-Brion, Ch. La Garde, Villa Bel-Air.

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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