Winemaker Notes
Shiny dark garnet color, black in the middle. Pure, typical and fresh nose of ripe Cabernet Sauvignon in gravelly soil where wild fruits, plants and spices mingle: blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, sour cherry, peppermint, cedar, heather On the palate: great unctuous and fresh structure, dense with silky, fine and elegant tannins. The Merlot brings a delicate and fruity flesh. The Cabernet Franc ensures refinement and elegance and the Petit Verdot releases its fruity and spicy energy. A classy finish where the flavors of graphite and licorice appear. The 80% of Cabernet Sauvignon are in balance in this blend and ensure a great wine for laying down, full of freshness.
Blend: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is very impressive for the vintage, with a vertical depth and structure of extremely polished tannins. It’s full and precise, with berries, dark chocolate, bark, iodine and walnuts throughout. Extremely well done. Best after 2027.
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Vinous
The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier was terrific both times I tasted it. Potent and driving, the 2021 dazzles with Cabernet Sauvignon intensity in its aromas, flavors and overall structure. Graphite, spice, menthol, spice, rose petals, mocha and flowers run through a core of red/purplish fruit. The Blanc gets most of the attention at Domaine de Chevalier, but these days I find the red more complete and more interesting. –Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Wine Enthusiast
This estate, owned by the Bernard family, has produced a ripe, elegant wine. It shows great black fruits and some solid tannins that will stand the wine in good stead as it ages. An impressive wine for the vintage.
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Decanter
Aromatic nose, perfumed black fruits, bramble tones and a touch of sweet spice. Round and mouthfilling, this has good density and depth for the vintage, tannins are on the juicy plump side with a dry grippy texture though satisfying not austere with the fruit powering through giving cherry and blackcurrant flavours. This has good persistency and doesn't let up - it's not a showstopper at this point but I love the quality of the fruit and the tannins and the lifted acidity as well as the darker more savoury elements of liquorice, black chocolate, graphite and smoked cedar that come in towards the end. Lots going on here with good potential. You get the impression nothing is hiding and I love that. Really the grapes and the terroir on show. A good success and will be interesting to taste in bottle. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Domaine de Chevalier reveals a deep, complex bouquet with aromas of blackberries and blueberries mingled with spices, cigar wrapper and coniferous forest floor, followed by a medium to full-bodied, sweet and concentrated palate animated by bright acids and framed by fine, powdery tannins. It's an impressive effort that will reward a bit of bottle age. It's a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc.
Rating: 94+ -
Jeb Dunnuck
Looking at the Grand Vin, the 2021 Domaine De Chevalier is based on 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, with harvest not wrapping up until October 15. It's a terrific wine in the vintage offering ripe currant and darker berry fruits as well as classy oak, graphite, and scorched earth nuances. This medium-bodied, concentrated, balanced 2021 has ripe tannins, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It actually reminds me slightly of the estate’s 2014, albeit in a slightly fresher package.
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.