Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
While the second wine of the estate, the 2019 L'Esprit De Chevalier Blanc is terrific and offers a beautiful sense of salty minerality as well as lots of citrus blossom, white flowers, and a hint of lime. It tastes like a mini-Chevalier Blanc and is medium-bodied, has bright acidity, and a great finish. It's going to keep for a decade. It's going to be a brilliant value and is the finest vintage of this cuvée I've tasted.
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James Suckling
Plenty of green-apple and pear aromas with vanilla and cream undertones. Kiwi, too. Medium to full body with oily character and a fruity undertone. Hints of vanilla and crushed stone. Flavorful finish. Second wine of Domaine de Chevalier. 65% sauvignon blanc and 35% semillon. Needs two or three years to come together. Better after 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 L' Esprit de Chevalier Blanc exhibits notes of citrus zest, white flowers, green apple and wet stones, followed by a medium-bodied, elegantly textural palate that's chalky and precise. This is a fine effort that reflects the quality of Domaine de Chevalier, its big brother. I suspect that with a decade on the clock it will surprise many in a blind tasting. Best after 2021.
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Wine Spectator
Brisk-edged, with lemon pith and fleur de sel notes guiding a core of white peach and gooseberry. This doesn't have a ton of range, but it does have excellent focus and purity. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Drink now.
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.