2016 Domaine de Chevalier
Buying options
Tasting notes
There is a depth of color and an even better depth of flavor. Smoke a Cohiba Behike in a fruit orchard and you get the idea of the perfume. On the palate, there are layers of elegant, silky textured fruits with sweetness, purity and richness. The finish keeps on going. The wine here is known for aging, so give it 12 years or more before opening a bottle and drink over the next 20-25 years, at least! There is no doubt, this is the finest vintage of Domaine de Chevalier Rouge ever produced, although the 2018 could be even better in the years to come!
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
The core of fruit flavor here is sappy and dense, with lots of kirsch, raspberry pâte de fruit and plum reduction notes, yet this stays fresh and racy overall, with a bright iron spine, flashes of tea and tobacco and a long finish that shows a wonderful infusion of alder and tobacco flavors. Offers a lovely combination of prodigious fruit details, with a tug of earth. Best from 2024 through 2038. 12,000 cases made.
As to the reds, the 2016 Domaine de Chevalier is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that saw an extended maceration, malo in barrel, and 18 months in just 35% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty boasts a powerful bouquet of tobacco smoke, damp earth, gravelly, rocky minerality, wood smoke, and loads of dark fruits. Full-bodied, deep, concentrated yet incredibly elegant and seamless on the palate, it’s a legendary Chevalier in the making. While I rated this as high as 99 points on one of the four separate occasions I was able to taste it, I’m being conservative with the score. it has some upfront charm but needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for 3-4 decades.
Aromas of blackberries, red and dark plums, cedar and gravel, as well as red flowers and brown-leaf tea. It offers a very sleek and powerful array of ripe dark fruit and a very plush, focused and elegant bed of fresh, fine and powerful tannins. Plenty of aging potential, this is still quite tight. A blend of 55 per cent cabernet sauvignon, 35 per cent merlot, five per cent cabernet franc and five per cent petit verdot. Try from 2024.
About the producer
Since buying the property in 1983, the Bernard family has cemented Domaine de Chevalier’s reputation as one of the Graves’s finest red and white wine producers, known for their sophisticated and elegant wines.