Winemaker Notes
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 ripefruit are intense, salivating and accompanied by a gustatory complexity very typical of this vintage. Humus, graphite and licorice. Great overall freshness. Impeccable and harmonious balance between the sweetness and liveliness of the different sensations.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Beautiful fragrance on the nose, blackcurrant and floral reflections with violets. Smells expressive and round. Smooth on the palate, filling but calm and controlled. Suave and sophisticated, plump with lovely high acidity that lifts the palate and creates a nice tangy contrast to the soft spices and the clear minerality. Where the 2018 has more muscle and fleshiness the 2019 has more depth and class. It's fun, playful, clean, the acidity is gorgeous and this will carry to a longlife. Still a baby, I wouldn't drink this right now, but this has exceptional potential and I love the minty freshness and salty stone touches at the end. Sweet, succulent and precise. Gorgeous.
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2019 Domaine De Chevalier, which is unquestionably up with the crème de la crème of the vintage. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot that saw just 35% new oak, it sports a dense purple hue as well as a killer, quintessential Graves bouquet of darker black fruits, scorched earth, truffle, cold fireplace, tobacco, and graphite. More medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has brilliant purity, ultra-fine tannins, flawless balance, and a great, great finish. It's not a blockbuster but has this incredible sense of class, balance, and finesse while being rich and concentrated. It's a gorgeous wine, and wine lovers will adore being able to compare this side by side with the 2015, 2016, and 2018 over the coming 3-4 decades. Best After 2022.
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James Suckling
Beautiful, ripe redcurrants, bay leaf, violets and raspberries on the nose. Full-bodied with firm and very tight tannins that are polished and layered. Crushed stones highlight the beautiful blue fruit. Poised and refined.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier is a magical wine in the making, wafting from the glass with aromas of wild plums, crushed blackcurrants and violets mingled with hints of pencil shavings, subtle spices and coniferous forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, with a vibrant core of fruit, beautifully refined tannins and lively acids, it's exquisitely elegant and harmonious, concluding with a long, perfumed finish. Stylistically, this wine exhibits a much closer affinity with the great Domaine de Chevalier of yesteryear than much of what was produced here in the early 2000s. It's a masterclass in what contemporary Bordeaux can deliver, and worth a special effort to seek out. Best after 2029.
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Vinous
The 2019 Domaine de Chevalier has precise and complex bouquet with blackberry, cedar and tobacco scents, quite Medoc-like in style. This is thoroughly engaging. The palate is medium-bodied, exquisitely integrated oak, fleshy and fine-boned with a precise finish. This is outstanding.
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Wine Enthusiast
With its finely structured tannins and juicy black currant fruits, this has the potential to be an important wine. The balance between the fruit and structure is already there, promising richness as the wine matures.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Domaine de Chevalier is always at the top of my list, and the 2019 vintage stands out. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with aromas and flavors of bold, ripe fruit balanced with the right amount of oak. Serve it with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye. (Tasted: June 29, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
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.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.