Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The depth of fruit comes through clearly, with a medium body and plenty of berry, chocolate, walnut and bark aromas. Creamy and polished, with a lovely texture and a long and rather endless finish. Soft and precise. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot and 5% petit verdot.
Barrel Sample: 97-98 -
Vinous
The 2025 Domaine de Chevalier is a total stunner. The oak imprint is a bit strong, but the 2025 possesses notable richness and textural depth to handle it all. Signature red-toned fruit and floral overtones soar through the layered, expansive close. –Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Decanter
Aromas of plum, raspberry, loam and wet stone minerality suggest the pedigree beneath. The palate is decidedly structured, almost reminiscent of grape skins tasted at harvest, with a firm, tightly wound tannic frame. A more muscular style of Domaine de Chevalier. At 12.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.71, the wine walks a fine line: the freshening acidity (particularly on the finish) both lifts and accentuates the abundant tannins. For now, it remains firm, but the underlying material is strong and should harmonise with élevage, making full barrel ageing key to unlocking a full expression. Tasted three times with two more positive impressions, the score reflects the wine’s anticipated evolution rather than its current state.
Barrel Sample: 95 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Currants, smoky tobacco, dried flowers, graphite, and leather all emerge from the 2025 Domaine De La Chevalier, a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot from yields of 34 hectoliters per hectare. It brings back memories of old school wines from the 1980s with its ultra-classic, ripe style, yet still checks in at just 12.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.64. Medium-bodied on the palate, it’s beautifully balanced and layered, with ripe tannins and a great finish. This is a concentrated yet elegant Chevalier where the cellar will be your friend.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2025 Domaine de Chevalier, a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, was harvested between September 11 and 26—an unusually early finish—with yields of 35 hectoliters per hectare. It reveals a bouquet marked by oak, with notes of spice, dark berries, lead pencil and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and deep, it’s built around a substantial chassis of tannins and framed by powdery, youthful structure, concluding with a long, firm and structured finish, reflecting the wine’s inherent density.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
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.