Winemaker Notes
Managing Director, Olivier Bernard, explains the philosophy behind Chevalier's white wine: "Our winemaking methods do not concentrate solely on fruitiness. We also focus on the quality of extraction, and barrel-ageing. This results in a complex, crisp wine that is never heavy, and has a long aftertaste. We do everything in our power to bring out the white wine's excellent ageing potential".
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Displays lemon, honey, mineral, fennel seed and lime aromas. Full-bodied, this fills the mouth with lime, apple tart and vanilla character. Very, very intense. Fantastic. Needs time to come together. The best white from this estate in a long time. Best after 2014. 2,080 cases made.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2005 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is terrific, and while drinking beautifully today, should cruise for another decade or more in the cellar. Caramelized lemons, crushed rocks, and citrus oil all emerge from this rich, weighty, beautifully concentrated 2005 that has racy acidity, tons of extract, and a chiseled, bone-dry finish. It you like serious Bordeaux Blanc, this is one to seek out.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Domaine de Chevalier's fabulous 2005 white offers terrific acidity, body, and texture as well as high acidity, which suggests this wine should enjoy an incredibly long life. I recently had the 1985 at a charity dinner, and it is still remarkably youthful. The 2005 may last just as long, if not longer. Hints of figs, licorice, honeysuckle, and lemon oil are accompanied by a concentrated, dry, nearly austere wine, but there is so much going on, that it should be prodigious with another decade of cellaring. It will last for 30-40+ years.
-
Wine & Spirits
The freshness of this wine feels timeless. It's still there four days after the bottle was opened, a beautiful fruit presence that's as essential as the feel of summer rain, rather than the taste of any fruit that rain may become. Depending on the moment you approach the wine, it's become a complex range of flavors, perhaps dried pineapple, orange pith or sour cherry, jasmine, honeysuckle or ginger. The descriptions may be overwrought, but the wine remains reserved (the wine makes me think of Catherine Deneuve, which is enough to make me happy). This will live well for 20 years or more.
-
Wine Enthusiast
A crisp, citrus wine, with good fresh fruit flavors. This has clean acidity, along with its ripe fruits, tempered with a touch of wood. As it develops, this wine will become bigger and more important
Barrel Sample: 92-94 Points
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
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.