Farr Vintners Logo

Domaine de Chevalier 2018

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > Pessac-Léognan
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

This much respected property in Pessac-Léognan is run with great care by Olivier Bernard whose family took it over from Claude Ricard in 1983. During the 1980s and 1990s there was a major programme of replanting here and since the early 2000's, with the vines reaching maturity, the quality here has returned to that of the great vintages of the 1940's and 1950's. Without doubt, the best vintages of Chevalier are the most recent ones. Domaine de Chevalier performs brilliantly every year now and is a regular star of our blind tastings. It wins its flight at the blind "Southwold" tasting with impressive regularity. However, prices have remained reasonable. This is always one of our best-selling wines en primeur. For Olivier, 2010 was always the best wine that he ever made but he thinks that the 2018 has the chance to beat it - as it has the power of 2010 with the roundness of 2009. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Domaine de Chevalier

Label

Tasting Notes

The intensity and perfumes on the nose are extremely impressive, offering pure blackberries and violets, as well as bark, wild-mushroom and raw-tile notes. It’s full-bodied with creamy tannins that envelop the wine and a gorgeous, subtly complex center palate with all the flavors found on the nose. Endless finish. Love the finesse and length to this. Greatest ever. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 5% petit verdot. Try after 2026.

99
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, March 2021

A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, aged for approximately 18 months in oak barriques, 35% new, the 2018 Domaine de Chevalier has a deep garnet-purple color, pouncing out of the glass with energetic scents of crushed blackcurrants, fresh, juicy blackberries and ripe plums, with suggestions of crushed rocks, bay leaves, unsmoked cigars and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with muscular black fruits, framed by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and great tension, finishing long and mineral laced. Give it another 4 years in bottle to flesh out and drink it over the next 25+ years. 2025 - 2030

95+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (End of Mar), March 2021

These guys clearly know what they are doing, and they keep doing it. This wine is consistent even in difficult years but in years like this, where they have the room to manoeuvre, it really shines. This is great stuff, with lovely freshness to the deep fruit flavours. There is persistency and plenty of slate and freshly cut herbs to stack up against the juicy, concentrated fruit. It's a powerful, well handled and confident wine but doesn't push too hard. One-third new oak.

Drinking Window 2027 - 2040

96
Jane Anson, Decanter.com, April 2019

Diam 30 closure.
Tasted blind. Ripe and rather glorious with very bright fruit. Complete. Dry, stony finish. Rather 21st-century! 14.5%
Drink 2025 – 2040

17
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2022

Black core, cherry rim. Subtle and scented on the nose, even though it looks like a big wine. When I tasted this two days later, it was more open and rich on first impression. Plenty of oak on the nose, as you might expect at this stage. Crushed stones entwined with black, black fruit. Relative to the vintage, this has real tenderness on the palate, the finest of dry tannins and a finish that leaves your mouth clean, as 75% chocolate does. Very impressive. Drink 2025-2038

17.5+
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2019

With a deep purple colour in the glass, this exudes the classic earthiness of the appellation, paired with ripe black cherry, dried herbs and sweet spices. The palate is wonderfully silky, with glossy, refined tannins gently framing the sweet fruit at the core. Bright acidity washes through and gives wonderful elegance and precision without losing the juicy, ripe fruit. The finish is long but restrained, with the sweet fruit and savoury spices of oak in perfect harmony. A magnificent Domaine de Chevalier that captures the best elements of the vintage.

95
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, April 2019

Possibly one of the finest wines ever to come from the Bernard family’s flagship estate near Léognan, the 2018 Domaine de Chevalier checks in as a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot that hit 13.5% alcohol and will spend 18 months in just 35% new French oak. Its saturated purple/plum color is followed by a mammoth bouquet of cassis, black currants, gravelly earth, smoked herbs, and tobacco. Full-bodied, deep, brilliantly balanced, and seriously concentrated, it has polished tannins, no hard edges, and a finish that won’t quit. It’s a heavenly Graves that will keep for 30+ years.

96/98
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, May 2019

This is flashy, with mesquite, licorice, black tea and fruitcake aromatics leading the way to a frankly ripe core of steeped raspberry and plum flavors. Seems pretty liberal with the toast, but this has what it needs to come together in the end.

94/97
James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, March 2019

(65 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot, 5 Petit Verdot) There is no doubt that this is a classy wine and it is certainly well-structured, but there is a tender mulberry tone in the core which signals a degree of complexity to it and even though the tannins are fairly rustic, they are sure to calm, too.

17.5+
Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com, April 2019
Read more tasting notes...

Wow. I can’t get over the pureness of fruit in this wine with so much currant, tar and wet-earth character. Flowers, too. So aromatic. Full body, yet pureness and brightness of fruit. Layered. Incredible depth and beauty. 65 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 30 per cent merlot and 5 per cent petit verdot. Greatest ever?

99/100
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2019

This wine is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot to be aged for approximately 18 months in oak barriques, 35% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Domaine de Chevalier starts a little closed before bounding out of the glass with bold expressions of fresh blackcurrants, kirsch, black raspberries and fragrant earth plus nuances of lilacs, Sichuan pepper and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, the palate maintains elegance and sophistication, with a lovely ripe, finely grained frame and plenty of freshness to back up the floral and black fruit layers, finishing long and perfumed.

94/96+
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (April 2019), April 2019
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.