Winemaker Notes
Blend: 85% Sauvignon, 15% Semillon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A white with a phenomenal density and richness with creme brulee, apple pie and pear tart character. It's so agile and balanced. Full body, with tangy fruit and a long finish. Crazy intensity and style to this. Speechless. Best dry white from here.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Offering up brilliant aromatics of grilled grapefruit, melon, crushed stone, and grilled citrus, the 2010 Domaine De Chevalier Blanc is medium to full-bodied, bright, and fresh on the palate, with a focused and lively profile that’s very much in the style of this domaine and vintage. It's an outstanding expression of Pessac-Léognan Blanc that will evolve gracefully over the coming two decades.
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Wine Enthusiast
Full and powerful, the wine has weight, with an almost Burgundian richness, although it never loses sight of the herbaceous edge of Sauvignon Blanc. Packed with power, yet food-friendly.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 Points -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A backward style of wine with notes of honeyed pears, subtle citrus, candle wax, orange zest and lemon butter, this medium to full-bodied, rich wine has terrific acidity and a long, long finish. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2050.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Spectator
Very pure, lacking the obvious punch of the vintage, with a floral note leading the way for a core of verbena, yellow apple, melon rind and green plum notes. The long, stone-tinged finish features finely beaded acidity.
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.